MARKET REPORT - JAN. 20TH, 2016

Well, mangos are flooding out the doorJust a fast update for mid-week.  First, there really isn’t anything new – no new listings and very little coming off the list – too bad, we always look for something new and exciting to help you tantalize your consumers with.  Weather has been all over our reports because it has obviously had a huge impact on pricing, and there are some changes afoot.  It continues to rain a couple of times a week across southern California which continues to impact growth and harvest along the coast and prices, if anything, continue to rise on some crops that are hell to harvest in the rain.  Now, you may say, that’s BS, because we harvest those here in BC in the rain, and you’re right – but we aren’t packing to ship to the East Coast or the US – just for the next few days for the local market, and wet dandy, spinach and lettuce won’t last a week or longer if harvested wet.  More to the point, it’s about getting into fields to harvest efficiently, keeping tractors, boxes and pallets out of the mud, and to have your crews even show up when it’s wet out.  So that’s what’s happening there.  This isn’t affecting kale, broccoli, chard, which continue to slowly come off, as will other pricing now that the desert has finally started to heat up.  After 4 weeks of really cold weather, normal daytime highs have returned to Imperial and Yuma – into the upper 20’s, after not even hitting 20C since the middle of December.  What’s likely going to happen is that all the succession plantings, (fields planted so they will come on 10 days apart, as an example) are all going to catch up to each other in a few weeks and prices could plummet.  I say “could” because that is up to the weather, and if it cools off again, then my prediction will look stupid.Conventional green onions are selling today at up to $52 US in Yuma – that gets them here, with freight and currency at $82 at our neighbor’s warehouses before they add a margin.  That’s a hint that your pricing isn’t crazy in comparison.  We’re seeing most conventional listings not that far below organic right now.Other news?  Well, mangos are flooding out the door – we just love this deal because it puts well-priced delicious and Fair Trade fruit out there under everyone’s noses.  We will have one size or another on deal through this 8 week program because we always need to even out our sizing vs. demand – so plan on a big spread of 7’s next week, to match the deal we will have them on starting Sunday.Valencia pricing is set to roll down a bit with the main Mexican Valencia varieties getting into the market – we’ve been listing Desert Sweets, which are a kissing cousin, but the larger volumes are in the true Valencia.Markets set to move over the next couple of weeks will be yams, carrots and potatoes.  Carrot supply is not meeting demand, and no matter what the price, there will be potential gaps.  Mexican growers are getting stupid high prices for skinny little bunchers right now because there’s far more money to be made that way.  Yams are increasing as we aim for a potential gap before the new crop comes off many months down the road, so expect to see that today.  Local potatoes will start to thin out with Fraserland wrapping up.  Across the Creek has good supply, but Bruce has high demand for seed potatoes, and being a certified potato seed producer, and one of the few also certified organic in Canada, his phone really starts to ring right now.  Alberta, Manitoba and PEI all have strong supply so we don’t expect any big issues this year for spuds, and always have back-up from the US when needed.