Produce Update-May 15 2015

It’s nearly a good news week!  Apples – lots to choose from, with Washington still strong on many varieties, and Argentina, Chile and New Zealand adding into the mix.  Avocados – good supply with wheels under another shipment. Most listings are in US lugs, not in the Europack we are used to – size conversions are on the price list.  Berry supply continues to improve, although the weather in Watsonville continues to be below normal, with no daytime highs in the 20’s last week or predicted for next week.  Blueberries are in strong supply, with perfect temperatures in the Central Valley, and prices should continue to falter.  Oregon is expecting first harvests in 2 weeks, Washington in 3, and we will see BC early blues in 5 weeks – the local blueberry crop is forecast to be larger than normal, and after a record-breaking warm spring, the season is going to start up to 3 weeks earlier than ‘normal’.Citrus is unchanged, with very little selection in the market, as usual, except for the last harvests of specialty fruit and Valencia’s – Navels are finished.  Stone fruit selection is picking up quickly with larger peaches and nectarines, and the first pluots expected shortly.  Make room for grapes on your shelf – expect consistent supply through November, with good volumes starting out of Sonora and an early start expected in California.Mangos continue to be one of our strongest fruit items.  Although it’s peak season in Michoacan and prices generally drop at this time, ours won’t – sorry, but we’re guaranteeing a good return to the producers we are working with.  Yesterday we were offered mangos for $7.50 Canadian from a local broker, so if you subtract 20% to convert to USD$, 15% for their commission, $2.25US a box for transport, $1.80 for packing plus 60 cents for boxes and pallets – after deducting 30% of the harvest that doesn’t meet export grade, that leaves the grower with the equivalent of 40 Canadian cents a 9 lb. box – which in local terms would equate to a BC grower getting about $1.00 for 25# of Fancy peaches.  That’s part of why there’s a Fairtrade sticker on our mangos!We’re in the middle of a giant melon glut – take advantage of a huge Mexican season overlapping with the beginning of the California desert season with very reasonable pricing.While local veg has started, volumes will be limited.  You are seeing early harvests from crops grown under plastic or row cover – main field crops are coming along but won’t be abundant until mid-June. Prices are slowly trickling down on green veg crops as more and more central California suppliers are into full production, although there have been continuing supply issues on cauli and celery, which take a long time to grow.  The shortages have been caused by an early end to the desert and Yuma programs. Luckily, we will continue to have Agrofresco celery for another 2 weeks.  Spinach has also been an issue for many California producers – this cool, foggy weather that has slowed strawberries has created mildew issues that aren’t going away - but is one of the earliest greens, so we are buying as much as we can from BC and our two favorite spinach growers – Ralph’s in Washington and Siri in Oregon are in production. Some seasonal roots are about done (parsnips), and supply of red and yellow potatoes is now pretty well all California, although we are in fine shape on PEI Russets for some time, and great pricing on smaller B sizing.  No supply issues on local hothouse tomatoes and English cukes, and excellent supply on Mexican slicers and zucchini.And why is it not a perfect good news week?  Bananas – we will be back into Cerro Azul Ecuador fruit next week, but Canadian Border Services has been sitting on a container for a few days, and unless there’s a miracle we may have a few days gap later in the week – we will keep you updated!