MARKET REPORT - JULY 29th, 2015

ALL IS GOOD IN AVOCADO AND BANANA LAND

Now you have more selections, with the first early apples now available – Early Gold and Sunrise to go with the last of the dessert apples, where we have good supply on crunchy Vista Bellas, and of course a wide range of the more popular models from South America.  All is good in avocado and banana land – nice to have no hiccups in that area.You will have to watch your retails on a few more items this week as we all adjust to the much lower Canadian dollar – and that includes grocery (bulk) pricing.  We expect grain pricing to adjust again in the next few weeks as producers look at their own tussle with currency, and crop forecasts.  Bear in mind that there are drought-related problems on some cereal grains and legumes grown in northern BC and the Prairies, so just keep an eye open for more changes to come.  The CAD$ has dropped 11% since the beginning of the year.Mango volumes are thinning out in Sinaloa, and the Nayarit season is done, so expect prices to notch up as we run through one more month of the Mexican season.  Baja is done, and there is just Sonora fruit to go – plus those amazing California Keitt’s that are not too far away.  We’re going to move into some substantial volumes of BC Melons and with another 10 day heat-wave expected from the Coast to the Prairies, so get ready for increased demand.  Don’t go crazy – volumes are just starting to ramp up and many on the list won’t arrive for a couple of days.We’re right in the middle of an impressive peach run with ample volumes.  Same for nectarines, with a more limited BC supply backed up with beautiful Washington fruit as well.  With hot weather about to kick in watch stone fruit sales including beautiful N. Okanagan Cherries ramp up quickly.  This is the season we always wait for and it’s a winning streak this year with perfect hot weather and no major weather disasters earlier in the year.Supply of pears from Argentina is wrapping up, coinciding with the first of the California crop in the market, and BC’s first Bartletts very close behind.  Strawberry volumes are falling quickly as the production peaks in Watsonville / Salinas are far behind us.  With heat about to put pressure on berry crops in those areas (28C vs. a normal of 21C) prices will start to climb.  We do have BC listings but the volumes are very light.Over on the veg side, BC listings continue to increase with stable pricing despite high demand.  Expect to see some gaps on romaine for the next 10 days from most of our local growers – previous plantings came on too quickly in the last heat wave and sent things out of whack.  California is having continuing supply issues on the big 3 – broccoli, cauliflower and celery, and with hot temperatures about to hit there as well, pricing will continue to be jumpy for at least 10 days.  With high demand for celery about to hit, growers are pulling smaller 30 counts to hit these markets instead of waiting for them to size up.  Currency is also pushing salad prices up a few percent again – watch for that.There is growing supply of BC Eggplant, cherry tomatoes etc.  This is also the time of year when we get to list all the “fun” things that growers chose out of seed catalogues over the Christmas holidays when they were all happy and fuzzy, so expect to see some unique listings in the tomato, eggplant, and pepper section.