MARKET REPORT - OCTOBER 7TH, 2015
Welcome back to summer!
After a cool and wet September, the long range El Nino forecasts for much above temperatures starting in October have kicked in. Forecasts for the next 7 days have very warm temperatures – what are our normal highs will be the lows – with balmy conditions across BC and the Western Prairies. Calgary Friday, normal low 0C normal high 14C, forecast low 14C, high 23C. It hit 26C in the Fraser Valley on Monday – not quite October temperatures! This translates to a continuing great run for producers of green veg with perfect warm and wet conditions. Another north Pacific hurricane, (for the 3rd time in the last 2 months) has not dissolved as they nearly always do, and is aiming at our coast over the next few days, dragging with it these very warm temps and lots of warm rain. We dedicated last Friday’s market report to the current story about ginger, and didn’t give you any other updates – so here they are:
Apples – expect a complete transition to all varieties being local over the next couple of weeks as the last of the late varieties (Granny, Fuji, Braeburn, Pink Lady) start coming off – although there may be a packing delay with these being 2 weeks early and a backlog at packing sheds. There has been a bit of a tragedy on our local apple front that is hard to explain, but apparently all the extra summer heat took its toll, and fruit looking fine at harvest is going sideways in the bins – some varieties are going to 75% process immediately. Two large sheds we work with have diverted most of their golds, reds and granny’s right to the juice market – a bit of a disaster, and one not seen before – we may be into Washington fruit a lot sooner than expected on many varieties.Our next load of avocado and grapefruit from Pragor is in. Thanks for taking the hint and taking advantage of our inverted price structure – with best pricing on larger sizes – we’re sure your customers are appreciating seeing big fatty avocados. Speaking of that grapefruit, we’ve been able to lower prices a bit because of some reduced trucking costs out of Mexico, and the CAD dollar moving up a couple of points over the last 10 days. We’re not listing any other grapefruit, primarily because this stuff is stunning, and there is a general shortage on grapefruit across California. Because Mexican grapefruit can’t be imported into the States, they can’t take advantage of this beautiful Mexican fruit as an option and instead suffer with meagre supply.We’re still getting good supply on BC grapes, although the season will wind down fairly quickly, and a lean California crop on late varieties will see prices slowly amp up. There are rumours of a more vigorous grape supply out of Peru this year on organic, which may help bridge the winter gap. The growing regions for grapes in northern Chile and Peru don’t see much of a winter, and they control the fruiting cycle by pruning, instead of here and California, where it is defined by temperature. But they have a hard time getting grapes to size up to meet import standards, (size 10 and up) especially into the US, so most growers stick with conventional because they can use growth hormones and get the sizing. But that being said, better soil and crop management especially in Peru is seeing an increase in organic production amidst what is an explosion of new vineyards in northern Peru.Lemon pricing is finally coming off from its crazy highs, as a bit more fruit comes into the market – cooler nights bringing on colour. Valencia’s are about done, a month or two earlier than normal, but expect to see early navel varieties shortly – conventional fruit is on store shelves in small volumes – that is all immature fruit that is being gassed to go orange. Then the citrus flood will start later this month with a parade of varieties spilling into the market – usually a couple of new ones every week – yes, expect to see Cara Cara soon as well. Satsumas and Chinese Mandarins will also start to ramp up over the next few weeks – first load of Mandarins due 3 weeks today.BC Stonefruit is done, with last picks in house and expected to be gone before end of week. With limited citrus, limited berries and an end to stone-fruit we’re seeing a big up-tick on strawberries with good volumes available as the Santa Maria and Oxnard crops come on, as well as Esteban’s fall harvests, which should go on for many weeks, or until, fingers crossed, the predicted El Nino monsoon starts to impact California. Boy, would it be great if those forecasts for a very wet winter for California hold true!Greens are fairly stable – with lots of good supply locally and across Washington and Oregon – it was looking dicey there a couple of weeks ago with such a cold and wet late September, but improving weather has allowed local producers to hit their game again. Broccoli, Celery and Cauli markets will bounce around substantially as new fields from several major players open up in Oxnard (north of LA) as they transition away from the Salinas and San Joaquin Valley’s. We hope we have enough of your favourite Thanksgiving greens in stock for the week – it looks like that today. There is also a surprising amount of local sub-tropicals available that have missed the frost, and although the volumes aren’t huge, if temperatures continue to stay 10C above normal, plants will keep up some production. That means continuing supply of cherry toms, roma, eggplant and peppers. Home gardens are still producing beans and zucchini in our neighborhood.Root crop category looks great, with nearly the entire selection all from BC. If we sound a little frantic on the phone this week, it’s not just Thanksgiving sales, it’s also a full software conversion underway. Wish us luck!