Weather Update
Cool dry offshore flow across California this week in front of an approaching Pacific storm system expected Sunday into Monday. This system will impact Central California with only a chance of rain to the south. Isolated showers across Central Mexico today followed by seasonal temperatures and dry conditions into next week. Mid-week showers and thunderstorms across Northern Mexico give way to dry conditions late this week into next. Cold mornings with near freezing lows continue in the colder valleys of the Southwestern desert regions with seasonal afternoon temperatures. A chance of showers and gusty winds late this week as the storm track passes to the north. Cool mornings continue across Florida in front of a potent storm system Thursday into the weekend. 1 to 2 inches of rain is forecast with this system from south to north with dry conditions expected early next week.
Commodity Updates
Apples Washington – Red Delicious are steady on most sizes with good availability. They continue to peak on extra fancy fruit in the medium size range. Golden Delicious and Granny smith remain short with higher pricing. Look for this to continue through the season with most shippers lucky to have 2 shifts a week. Granny smith are peaking on 88 and larger with very few 100 count and smaller. Galas are steady on all sizes and are peaking on 100/113s. Fuji’s are steady with good availability and they are peaking on the 88/100s. Honeycrisp are limited as most shippers are only running them once a week. The quality of all has been good.
Asparagus Southern Baja (Constitucion)) continues with low production due to the cold weather in the region, and seasonality. Production should wrap up in this region in the next 2 weeks. We’re starting to see some asparagus from Northern Caborca Mexico, but volume is very low. Production, and weather remain unchanged in both regions in Peru, Northern region (Trujillo), and Southern region (Ica). The demand out west has started to pick with less production in Southern Baja, and Northern Caborca just starting. The market, and demand has picked up in the east due to the shortage out west.
Avocado (Mexican) – Weather in the growing region if Michoacán Mexico calls for some rain early in the week with temps in the 70s-80s. Growers are currently harvesting the “Aventajada” crop and peaking. There is plenty of fruit in the pipeline and pricing is all over the place. Overall quality is good as fruit is eating and cutting good. We are seeing some “Lenticel spotting on the surface of the avocado skin. Lenticel develops after harvesting during the rainy season. Lenticel spotting does not affect the internal quality of the fruit. An avocado with Lenticel will ripen as normal and as the skin color darkens, the lenticel will become less apparent. Mid to late January we will see California fruit available.
Green Bell Peppers – Green bell pepper production expected to remain steady throughout the week. Green bell volume is expected to increase in the next couple of weeks. The pepper market remains steady and strong. Volume on both #1 pack and choice meet demand. Green bell pepper from Mexico are also available to load in McAllen, TX. Red Bell Pepper – Very limited volume of Red Bell pepper available to load in Nogales, AZ from Mexico. Cooler weather and rain over the past few weeks have slowed down production and sizing. Red bell pepper harvest is expected to begin in Sinaloa this week. Red bell demand currently exceeds supply. Market on red bell pepper is high along with pricing. Red bell supply from Mexico crossing through Nogales, AZ and McAllen, TX is extremely limited.
Blackberries – Blackberry supplies are strong. Production from Mexico has been consistent despite the weather. Quality has been okay, but we have seen some reports of soft fruit and decay. We do expect quality to improve moving forward and we anticipate good supplies over the next 2 weeks. Promotable volume and aggressive prices are available.
Strawberries – Strawberry supplies continue to be a struggle this week. In California, shippers have stripped and cleaned their fields of the rain damaged fruit. The yields this week have been greatly impacted by the effects of the rain and harvest is a slow go. Availability continues to be very light and markets remain high and firm. Quality is fair and bruising can be expected for the next 5-7 days as we recover from the storms. Mexico production was also slowed due to weather as well, but has picked up pace this week. Unfortunately, with the strong demand and limited availability industry wide, Mexico’s volume is not enough to offset the shortages. Lastly, Florida is being hit with cold temps and rains this week. Harvest has come to a crawl and is expected to remain very limited all week. As a whole, the industry continues to be in a demand exceeds supply situation and markets will stay high. We expect this to last through the holidays and improve after the new year.
Broccoli – The broccoli market continues to be remain volatile with all suppliers. Supplies remain tight on broccoli in all areas as the cold weather has slowed the growth. Broccoli crowns are extremely tight and may need to sub into bunched. Quality is fair with slight purpling, some mechanical damage, and occasional yellow cast. Look for supplies to continue to remain tight going into next week.
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