Buyer's Notes - April 30, 2021
Buyer’s Notes - April 20, 2021
Stefan Misse, Carter Selmes-Blythe, Brody Irvine, Jon Maheswaran - Discovery Organics
From Stefan:
Apples - BC Fuji and Pinks are finishing up packing next week. We should have good supplies for a couple weeks after that. Ambrosias will still be packed for a while longer. Fresh packed Honeycrisp and SugarBee in from Washington and it looks like small Gala are getting scarce so that means bags will be harder to source.
Blackberries – we are ready to roll with promos on blackberries. Let us know if you want to run a special.
Blueberries – Mexican fruit is nearly done and the California crop is delayed due to cool weather so there may be a gap in a week or so. Time will tell as the new crop ripens.
Raspberries - supplies improving but not quite promotable yet.
Strawberries – still limited supplies and we are grabbing all we can for Mothers Day weekend so if you want some extra volume please ask sooner than later. Price relief coming in 2 – 3 weeks (late May)
Grapefruit - Mexican crop is going to end harvests in the next 2 – 3 weeks.
Lemons - prices are spiking this week and next. Summertime jump is upon us. Watch your retails and we will look to add some Mexican fruit soon to help mitigate this.
Oranges - Pixies and Gold Nuggets are still being harvested. We should go a couple more weeks with those. MEX Valencias still in ample supply for promotions through May. Navels starting to become more limited. USA Valencias should appear in a few weeks. Prices rising on most specialty citrus and navels from top brands as supply dwindles
Pears – not much new here to report. Steady Eddie.
From Carter:
Asparagus – Washington grown is official underway. Will run for about 2 months from Andersen Organics.
Beans – 15# pack out arrived in stunning fashion. 28# inbound Sunday from Rico Farms.
Eggplant - good quality and availability on all sizes.
Cucumbers – FT option in house on slicers from Divine Flavor.
LE Cucumbers – these beauties from OriginO are grown in optimal conditions inside strictly monitored greenhouses. Eat local!!!!
Garlic – purple garlic inbound May 10th from Del Cabo.
Hot Peppers – cherry bomb finished for the season, last arrival Sunday. Habaneros/Poblano back in stock Sunday.
Onions – new crop Red Onions have arrived! Manitoba is officially wrapped up.
BC Peppers – we’ve been seeing some great arrivals from OriginO. Crisp, sweet, and packed full of vitamin C.
Mushrooms – morels roughly starting in 2 weeks.
Heirlooms Tomatoes – FT Wholesum available.
Grape Tomatoes – promotional pricing available for next week. Ready Cycle option available from A&A.
Roma Tomatoes – FT Divine Flavor inbound Sunday to Vancouver.
Zucchini – Up Up Up in price and limited moving forward. Don’t expect relief in the market for a few weeks.
Hard Shell Squash – Delicata/Acorn back in stock Sunday!
From Brody:
Broccolini – great quality and very promotable right now! Ask us if you’d like to run a special and we can support you.
Broccoli – really nice fresh cut quality coming in from the coastal growing regions now.
Brussels Sprouts – we are super lucky and getting in new arrivals of those amazing Brussels Sprouts from Covilli Farm. Fair Trade sprouts just in time for FT Month!
Carrots Bunched – Capay is just showing off with their amazing quality nantes carrots. If you haven’t devoured these yet… consider them on your next order.
Cauliflower – supplies continue to be a bit of a challenge and sizing is all over the map. We are lucky with whatever we can get at the moment. Hopefully we’ll see some relief in 2-3 weeks.
Celery – whoa mama! Big price swing in celery this week which is pretty typical as the transition is fully underway for celery (the last of the veg crops to make the journey to the coast). Many coastal growers are still waiting for their crops to come to harvest maturity so there is slim supply out there and the desert regions are finally done.
Chards – our fantastic run of chard with Bianche is coming to a bit of a gap so we’ll have some California crop options available instead – then back on in 2- 3 weeks.
Cilantro – it is the week of Cinco de Mayo, so enjoy some tacos on May the 4th and prepare some enchiladas for May the 5th.
Leeks – Ralph’s Greenhouse is coming to an end of their leek season… the typical spring gap as this overwintered crop begins to bolt in the spring. Those tall allium stalks want to go to seed and germinate a new crop for the next season now that the sun and the heat are showing up. Crisp is still harvesting but monitoring for bolting… and we’ll be bringing in some California new crop leeks to transition into.
Lettuce – very promotable pricing right now… a perfect time for a salad display!
Peas – delicious and crunchy and super fresh. Peak pea season is among us.
Turnips/Rutabaga – the quality from Bianche on these root crops is fantastic, and we have promotable volumes available.
Local Update! We are now seeing a little trickle of BC greenhouse grown organic radish, spinach, romaine lettuce, rainbow chard, dandelion, and cilantro! Get it while it’s hot… these goodies will not last long.
From Jon:
So many melons!