MARKET REPORT - OCT. 13TH, 2017

A few things of note as we move past Thanksgiving and solidly into the autumn season.The Mexican mango season has come to a close with the last shipment arriving this weekend. There will still be some Keitts from California over the next couple weeks but pricing will remain high with all other players out of the game for a bit.Ecuador grown Tommy Atkins are now being packed and shipped by sea and should arrive in the next couple weeks into the Los Angeles market.  The market on oranges has gone nuts with pretty much all California shippers finished up on their Valencia harvests. Navels are just around the corner with brix levels getting to the right point for harvest but without sustained cooler nights, the fruit has not coloured up yet enough for shipping. The Mexican Valencia crop is about 2 weeks away as well. The last of the outdoor BC eggplant and peppers will grace our doors this weekend as light frost has all but concluded those warmer weather vegetables. Origino is still expected to run strong on their greenhouse production for another 4 weeks give or take. We are back up and running with Rico Farms and Divine Flavor with a few Fair Trade items and we should see more as the season moves forward there. A new load of Pragor Coop Fair Trade certified avocado and grapefruit arrives to our doors Sunday afternoon and we have been able to secure some good volume and attractive pricing. Please ask your sales rep if you want to run a special in the coming weeks. We have nearly transitioned out of Watsonville strawberry fields now, finishing the last of a great run with Martinez strawberries that started back in late March. Bella Vita and Success Valley are berry farms in South California in Santa Maria and Oxnard respectively, where their autumn weather is very similar to the Watsonville area in the summer. Local greens are still going strong with only rainbow chard and black kale on the possible hit list for shortages. Secrest has a late season run of bunch carrots that have been planted under cover to stay protected from the frost but still take advantage of colder nights so they sweeten up. Secrest Produce for those that don’t know run a mixed fruit and vegetable organic farm up on the benchland above Oliver in the Okanagan. Terry Grewal has been farming there for years and is constantly trialing new things, whether that’s a new variety of grape or a new technique for extending the season. All his tomatoes are grown in hoop houses to protect from the elements and extend his growing season by a couple months. Our local potato growers, Fraserland Organics and Across The Creek, are both busy getting everything out of the ground before the frosts come. Once the harvest rush is over they’ll stash the potatoes in storage barns where their skins will continue to set. Then we’ll be into strong storage season crops and the ever famous German Butter potatoes from ATC will be at the table.