MARKET REPORT - JULY 29TH, 2016

First, have a great long weekend if you are in a province that has one at the beginning of August.Apples:  Apparently you can expect BC Gala starting in 7 – 10 days.  In the meantime splurge on two great tasting BC varieties currently listed – Gravenstein and Sunrise.  Sunrise Bags on special for the week as well.  California Gala’s are fetching a substantial premium – their harvest, normally a small one-shot deal has been compressed, with smaller sizing because of the on-going heat wave with temps stable in the mid-40’s which have also sunburnt a lot of fruit on the top and south sides of trees. Apricots:  We’re into the last varieties of the season and expect to wind down within the next 10 days as harvested fruit works through the systemAvocados:  The season is gearing up across Michoacan and Jalisco states with prices expected to climb down off the high rung by early September.  As we have said many times, our deal with the Pragor Coop is that we take what they harvest.  That’s Fair Trade.  We don’t have the luxury of ordering how many cases of what size we would like.  The last shipment was very heavy on three sizes, so we’re going to inspire you with 10-15% off on all three to inspire some guacamole next week.  Ditto for sweet onions, limes and cilantro – think about some cross-merchandising!Bananas:  We’ll be shipping BOS for a couple of days then switching over to Mexican Fair Trade later in the week because of a shipping delay in Peru.Blueberries:  Many challenges this year for growers – heat / rain / drosophila flies / labour.  We are getting reasonable supply that is really based around location and variety, with growers who don’t have fly outbreaks, and have more heat – tolerant varieties.  We don’t expect the season to limp on much longer – 2 weeks at best.Lemons:  Yeah, whatever.  Consumers are getting used to these extraordinary prices, further deepened with brutal harvest conditions and stressed trees.  Quality is awesome with heat bringing on stronger flavour.Melons:  Lots of icebox and bins with special pricing on mini – bins.  With virtually nothing but sun and heat across most of Western Canada this should be a no-brainerNectarines and Peaches:  Man, what a great year – pricing and quality can’t be beat, and things just get better as we transition into mid-season cling-free peaches.A continued increase in local veg listings with field cherry tomatoes, cukes and eggplant listed, with expectations that we will soon see lug tomatoes as well.  Root crops are coming in early, so you can also expect an increasing selection of all good things that grow in the ground.  Watch your retails on yams and sweets with a combination of new and old crop being shipped – but also expect some very nice looking fresh yams to counter the price up-tick.Have a great holiday weekend!