Produce Update-May 8 2015

If it isn’t one thing or another!  Our goal (and dream) is to finish a perfect week where everything has fallen into place – no truck delays in Rogers Pass or Oregon, no weather calamities, no shorts on bananas or avocados, but something always rears its ugly head and zaps the dream.  So what happened this week to burst the bubble?  Well, it’s Fairtrade month.  Our avocado growers arrive today for a 5 day whirlwind visit.  What perfect timing for a whole truckload of avocados arriving mid-week to get frozen in transport! Pragor pulled off a miracle and got a replacement load harvested, packed and shipped in 2 days – but they won’t be available until Thursday – the day the growers leave after coming here to promote their fruit at Fairtrade events.  Arrghh.  But the biggest mess this week is once again all about the weather.  It is colder in California’s coastal growing areas than most of southern BC, with daytime highs in Salinas and Watsonville just a couple of degrees warmer than Edmonton.  If any of you have driven out of the Los Angeles basin south and inland to Yuma, or north to Bakersfield, you might be interested to know that there is a winter weather advisory out today for snow on both those routes – only the second time this year – and we’re well into May!Of course, that cold weather means much slower growth on all greens across Central California, and strawberry production if far, far lower than normal – you can imagine the bidding war that has been going on in the lead-up to Mother’s Day!  Apple supply is strong, but you will notice the selection is dwindling, with only 5 or 6 varieties (Gala/Fuji/Granny/Braeburn and Pinks) grown in the S. Hemisphere. To last us through to August. Washington should be wrapping up most varieties over the next 3 weeks.As mentioned, we will be tight on avocado for a few days because of the mal-functioning reefer unit.  Blueberry pricing continues to drop as production hits peak season in the Central Valley, but strawberry pricing is slow to recover until summer returns to coastal California.  Kiwis are transitioning to NZ with little left in California.  It is definitely melon season, and with sunny skies and warming temperatures, sales continue to soar and prices continue to drop.   We’re in the peak of the Michaocan Mango run.  We have great supply and if you want to run ads please let us know so we can trigger ripening for you.The rest of the fruit category is coming along nicely with stonefruit and grapes about to jump into the market in a big way.  Of note is a sensational selection of pears from Viva Tierra.  Viva Tierra is a unique company, started eons ago in Washington, selling organic fruit and onions year round.  Unlike other importers of S. American fruit they own orchards in Chile, and have worked aggressively pushing Argentinian pear growers to try some of the heirloom pears long forgotten in the marketplace.  Growers continuously move away from older varieties, often with on and off years and lower over-all production, but the flavor and colour are things that shouldn’t be forgotten.  You have spare rack room from the dwindling apple selection – try on Alexander Lucas or Durondeau or even Forelle’s with their cinnamon taste, and add the “heirloom” word to signage – they’ve traced their history back to the 1700’s – definitely heirlooms!On the veg front, supply is good on all products except celery, with prices slowly wandering down to seasonal levels. Celery is a late to mature heat loving beast, so don’t expect a big change in that market for many weeks.  Yes, that is BC lettuce on the price list – 2 weeks earlier than last year’s record breaking start – expect supply to be meagre for 10 days as this is just the beginning.  Pricing on Mexican field crops (cucumber, zucchini) continue to be in good supply, with excellent pricing – this will not last as most growers are the last few weeks of production – the plants are older, the temperatures will soar, and water allotments in coastal Mexico also end in a few weeks.And speaking of water, as the situation in California gets more and more dire, we have to feel sorry for farmers across the State, but at the same time, as they let more fields go fallow, and rip out citrus orchards and grapevines – they are saving all their water for the almond crop – a huge portion of California’s exports, but it takes a gallon of water to make an almond.  And where is the political will to end fracking natural gas in California, an industry that uses more water than the LA Basin and the Bay area needs for drinking water, water that is tortured into a toxic soup and injected deep into the ground, never to be seen again.  What a nutty world we live in!