Buyer's Notes - April 29, 2022
Buyer’s Notes - April 29, 2022
Stefan Misse, Carter Selmes-Blythe, Brody Irvine, Jon Maheswaran, Randy Hooper - Discovery Organics
It’s not time to start asking about local produce yet. There continue to be a few offerings from brave souls growing under glass or plastic, but we’re just finishing off what most growers will tell you was the coldest April anyone can remember. There were many days of frost in the Fraser Valley in the past week alone – weeks after our reliable “frost free” dates. Expect to see a 2-3 week delay – well into June – for local chards, greens lettuce etc.
Busy week ahead!
Cinco de Mayo next weekend – salsa/cilantro/roma tomatoes/avocados
Mothers Day – biggest Strawberry pull of the year and nearly impossible to cross merchandise with Cinco de Mayo
Fair Trade Month – a month long global promotion of Fair Trade.
From Stefan:
Apples - The last of the BC apples are here and ready to ship out. Stock up if you need them for Mother’s Day weekend! We are almost fully transitioned to Washington fruit and pricing is generally stronger and firmer than past years due to last season’s heat wave.
FAIR TRADE Bananas - Our friends at Coliman were here a few weeks ago for a visit and we talked about improving quality overall by selecting larger fruit from the banana clusters and the fruits of our discussion have come to bear this week (thanks to the Coliman team!). And those improvements are just in time for “May is Fair Trade Month” promotions. Please let us know if you would like to run an AD. We are ready with great service and quality!
Berries - We are ready for your Mother’s Day berry requests! All berries are in abundance except for raspberries Esteban Martinez is finally into a good flush of his strawberries with weather conditions optimal for growing and harvest. Blueberries are transitioning from Mexico to California at this time.
FAIR TRADE Melons – we have Fair Trade Mini Watermelons and Fair Trade regular watermelon bins on deck. Mexican cantaloupes are just getting started. Honeydews should trickle in next week as well.
Grapefruit - steady supplies generally. All sizes available. Quality is very good right now.
Lemons - supplies are slowly tightening up. Quality has been outstanding and we are now working with Serrato Ranch which used to be part of the Sundance Naturals group. CCH Lemons bags continue their epic run on quality. They have been packing larger Fancy fruit into their bags for us to make your retail displays shine bright.
Mangos – supplies have been steady and we might see some Kent variety in a week or so as we enter a period when Tommy Atkins are a little short in supply. Check out the 12ct Ataulfos. BIG!
Oranges - Navels are nearly done. Cara Cara are nearly done. We have one more arrival mid week on both and that just might be it. The Mexican Valencia deal will continue into June. Fruit is sweet and quality overall is great (and should be until the end). We still have a few specialty types available (Bloods/Pixies/Tangos) and those should run another 10 days or so.
Pears - steady supplies on all pears and we will transition completely to Argentina imports in the week ahead.
Stone fruit is just getting started in California. We should set apricots within a week and early peaches and nectarines right after that. The early varieties of cherries are also available but so very pricey right now. We will enter that market if we can find some pricing that would make an attractive retail. Right now it is looking like a retail of $20 for a 2lb grab bag of cherries! Yikes!
From Brody:
Artichokes – tremendous artichokes are available now… so get them while they are hot!
Beets – later on in the week we’ll have stunning bunched beets available in gold and red varieties. Great display item for spring time.
Bok Choy/Baby Bok Choy – these sweet and tasty greens are really in peak supply and condition right now. Do not miss out.
Broccoli – markets on broccoli are just wild right now. Thankfully we have our pals at Coke Farm just firing on all cylinders for us and sending top notch quality broccoli bunches and crowns. Whatever you need, we got you!
Cabbages – while Napa is just getting started after a small gap in supplies, we are swimming in some very nice green and red cabbage. Red in particular is very pretty and well suited for some fresh displays.
Cauliflower – springtime can be a challenging time for cauliflower quality, but we are rocking it with some great arrivals from Cal-O in house.
Celery – whoa what a quick turn of availability on celery! Prices have just shot up incredibly quickly and we’ll do our best to cushion the blow but expect very tight celery supplies for at least 3 weeks.
Cilantro – our number 1 selling herb is available in huuuge bunches from Josie’s and Fresh Venture.
Dandelion – any minute now we should see the 1st arrival of BC dandelion from Two EEs Farm.
Kale – we have the kale. All hail kale!
Lettuce – some great new arrivals from Cal-O have just come into our warehouse… and the first harvest from Two EEs is coming in too!
Parsley – it’s tabbouleh time! Help us move through some excess curly parsley and you’ll get a tabbouleh high five.
Radish – our local radishes have been flying off the shelves but don’t forget about the very spring focused varieties like easter egg and French breakfast! They are awesome and complement the local radishes very well.
Spinach – we are going all in with Olera and the local spinach train! These need to be on your next order for they are beautiful bunches of spinach.
From Carter:
Asparagus - Supplies are continuing their slight gap as Caborca supplies are coming to a close. This is the time of year Mexico growing areas transition to the southern Baja region. We have great news for next week, we will have our first arrival of the season of Washington grass
Beans – Each year we dedicate the month of May to celebrate, advocate for, and educate on all things Fairtrade. Green beans from Covilli have been coming in dynamite. Bean season will wrap up end of May
Brussels – Covilli with another fantastic FT pack out. 10# Brussels!
Carrots – Fountainview season is officially wrapped up, we had our last arrival of 24x2# arrive yesterday. These carrots are still tasting super sweet and crunchy for being out of the ground now for 8 months
LE Cucumbers – FT Divine Flavor greenhouse grown LE Cucumbers inbound Monday to Vancouver
Eggplant – New eggs in today
Fiddleheads – Please chat with our sales team on any promotional pricing. Lots of fiddles to go around! Fiddleheads can be used like any green vegetable. They are similar in flavour to spinach or asparagus, but with a nutty undertone
Garlic – Keep your eye out for purple garlic! Should see more arriving mid-May
Onions – California reds inbound Monday to Vancouver. Supplies are ramping up out of the desert
BC Peppers – Just fantastic quality from OriginO so far this season. Long stems, thick walls, just perfection by mother nature. We have a fresh pickup today from the greenhouse
Potatoes – We will keep pushing the local spuds as long as we can. Look for new crop California spuds to start rolling in a few weeks
Squash – FT Delicata in house, please chat with our sales team on promotional pricing. Look for new crop California winter squash to begin in July
Roma Tomatoes – Shad house grown beauties from Divine Flavor arriving Monday to Vancouver. FT pack out available
Heirloom Tomatoes – New arrival Tuesday to Vancouver. FT pack by Wholesum
From Jon:
Organicgirl Salads - these are just humming along! When you would like an AD or anything please reach out to our Sales Team and we’ll hook you up.
Dairy - did you know we have an organic dairy program with Avalon? If you’d like to source some of the best dairy products in the West we have you covered! Just reach out to our Sales Team and we’ll get you more details.