We are inching to the end of the 2019-2020 crop, with new crop Gala, Honeycrisp, Ginger Gold & Gold supremes are now available. New crop Goldens & Fujis to start within the next 2 weeks. Storage supplies are still good for some varieties. USDA orders have helped to continue to strengthen the market over the past months. The retail movement continues to be steady, in the wake of COVID-19. Quality has been good, overall.
Look for Peru to continue to decrease and finish up by end of the month. Calif too has hit its peak but with harvest now out of the northern groves they will continue with light supplies into early Oct at least. Mexico has been slow to harvest in an effort to push up the markets. Mexico has good volume still on Flora Loca crop; their regular crop is looking nice on the trees and good volume through fall. Keeping in mind Mexico will be in the driver’s seat as far as pricing goes for the next few months. Sizing is peaking 60/70/48. Look for Chile to bring in some fruit this month with the majority of that crop going to Europe; Columbia will likely start arriving here in mid-Oct.
Like the Strawberries, Blackberries have been tied together in Retail Ads for the Labor Day Holiday. Rains on the East Coast made for limited availability. Look for better supplies out West the middle to end of next week.
Better supplies of BlueBerries this week and are forecasted into next week. Oregon and British Columbia increased volumes, and Imports from Peru also jumped up in supplies.
After the Labor Day Holiday, we will see a significant increase in Raspberries. Some of the biggest volume weeks of the month will happen in the next two weeks. The fruit is coming from Salinas, Watsonville, Oxnard, and imports from Mexico.
With the Labor Day Holiday upon us, there has been a very good demand for Strawberries in the grocery stores. These Ads gobbled up most of the supplies for the week making “open” fruit limited and expensive. After the Holiday; look for better supplies to become available. As reported last week, we are starting to see Santa Maria fruit become available.
Bakersfield/Arvin/Fresno is harvesting multiple varieties of green and red seedless and we expect to have excellent availability through mid-Oct. Black seedless and Globes in light supplies. The quality and condition of all grapes is excellent with a very nice berry/bunch size. The market is strong and steady.
Chilean Kiwi is going well with most all sizes and packs available. Starting to see an increase in the market as supplies work down. The fruit is frim and eating well. We won’t see new crop Calif fruit until sometime in mid-Oct.
The lemon market is upon large sizes a little flat on small ones. We can currently offer you Domestic supplies from Calif as well as fruit from Mexico/Chile/and Argentina. If you’re looking for a deal this is the place to look. Calif fruit harvesting out of Dist 2 (Ventura area) is getting a bit more money. In general, the fruit is peaking 140/115; quality is with the occasional scaring/blemish/discoloration.
Movement expected about the same. Supplies 110-150s very light, 230- 250s heavy. Trading 200-250s slow, 175s moderate, others active. Prices 110-150s generally unchanged, 175-200s slightly lower, 230- 250s lower. Quality is variable.
Movement expected to decrease slightly. Crossings include light supplies of Kent and Ataulfo varieties. Trading is moderate. Prices 6-9s slightly lower, others are generally unchanged. Quality is variable.
The honeydew market remains flat and steady. Honeydew supplies are all shipping out of the westside. Quality is good to excellent with a run of sizes.
The cantaloupe size profile is peaking on 9/ Jbo 9/ 12 with good supplies due to heat bringing on maturity. The market is steady at this time though with another heatwave expected for Labor Day weekend this could strengthen the following week. Quality has been excellent.
Valencias are blowing out of the sheds fast. With the Calif heat and the great demand on Vales this year we expect a gap later this month to appear between these and new cop Navels. A number of Independents are finished for the season just waiting for Navels. Fruit quality has been just fair with some softness and fuzzball on receiving. Most shippers are grading hard so mostly fancy grade to be had. Sizes peaking on 88/72 with small fruit running out the doors. The market is strong and will continue to increase as we wait for Calif Navels to start. Offshore Navels are still out there but moving fast and finishing up as well… the majority of this fruit is fancy
New crop Bartletts are here, along with a few red pears. Pricing has been very strong for the beginning. California Bartletts are still going & are getting the majority of the movement right now. D’Anjou pears starting in about a week to 10 days. Quality is good.
Movement expected about the same. Trading 5-7s moderate, 8s very slow. Prices 8s much lower, others slightly lower.
Tangerines are available on the east and west coasts. Most of the large sizes are moving out well….med to small sizes showing good availablity. Fruit for the most part is being repacked here in the states. We are seeing an occasional issue with skin blemishes and gas marks. These are easy peel with good sugar and flavor.
Nectarine & Peach will be winding up over the next 3 weeks…. as such markets are up; Sizes are 40/48 predominately. We still have good supplies of Plum and some Pluots; predominately 50/40 — expect to have into early Oct.
Movement in Texas expected to increase; Oklahoma expected about the same. Trading 45 count active, others moderate. Prices Seedless 45 count slightly higher, 60 counts lower, others generally unchanged. Quality is generally good.