Spotlight

Produce Supply Update July 26th, 2024 Good Morning! Local Produce – The local season is slowing down as farmers reset for fall crops. High heat and lack of rain finished many crops early, though some hot weather crops continue to thrive. We have all kinds of tomatoes, including heirloom varieties, blueberries, and watermelons available now. Squash, peppers and other items will be back again in the fall. Blueberries – Are still widely available locally and they’re having a great season. Quality has been beautiful, but it’s getting close to time to move north for better quality. We’ll be getting our next shipment from Michigan. Corn – Has been awesome all season locally. BiColor is still readily available. The dry weather has been rough on corn growers and some fields finished up earlier than normal. Eggs – Markets always climb in the heat of summer, with many egg farms losing chickens in the hot weather. This year as well farmers are dealing with the avian flu causing the destruction of millions of laying hens. The shorter shorter supplies are keeping pricing strong. Grapes – Mexican grapes are winding down, with better quality coming from California now. The hot weather has caused some quality issues for farmers, so we’ll have to see how the rest of the season goes for them. Melons – Watermelons are in peak season locally and our local farmers are bringing lots of melons to the market. Quality has been great, just like you’d expect this time of year. Peaches – South Carolina peach farmers are still having a great season and a strong harvest. Plentiful supplies and beautiful quality are causing farmers to lower prices for this week. They’re into free-stone varieties now. Strawberries – High temperatures in California fields have tightened up supplies, and markets continue to creap upwards. Tomatoes – Are rolling right along locally and they’ve been gorgeous. Big, ripe, and juicy, we’re looking forward to a great season. We have local romas, vine ripened tomatoes and even some heirloom varieties beginning.
Local Produce – The local season continues to move forward. We have all kinds of tomatoes, including heirloom varieties, blueberries, corn, peppers, and watermelons are available now. We’ve reached peak season on many items, and we’ve passed the sweet spot for summer squashes and cucumbers. Blueberries – Are still available locally and they’ve had a great season. Quality has been beautiful, but it’s getting close to time to move north for better quality. We’ll be getting our next shipment from Michigan. Corn – Has been awesome all season locally. BiColor is still readily available. The warm weather finished other colors up prematurely. Eggs – The main reason egg prices are increasing again is because highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks occurred on five U.S. egg farms this year as of April 24th, 2024, causing approximately 9.5 million layers to be depopulated, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Grapes – California is harvesting now. The hot weather has caused some quality issues for farmers, so we’ll have to see how the rest of the season goes for them. Lettuce and Greens – Record high temps in California fields have caused big headaches for the shippers out there. With the thermometer topping out at 100-120 field hands can only be in the field for a few hours, so they’re not harvesting enough to meet demand. Also, that kind of temperature is really tough on the product, causing quality issues on the limited supply. Onions – New Crop onion season has begun and pricing is much more affordable and quality is much improved over the storage crop. Vidalia has begun their sweet onion season and are poised for a great season also. Potatoes – We are at the tail end of Idaho russet potatoes. While there are plenty of potatoes left to get us through to the harvest in August, we are seeing quality start to decline, especially on larger sizes. The quality issues are adding increased pressure on the market and showing in higher pricing on the larger sizes. Strawberries – High temperatures in California fields have tightened up supplies, but demand hasn’t been that strong, so markets are still fairly low. Tomatoes – Are rolling right along locally and they’ve been gorgeous. Big, ripe, and juicy, we’re looking forward to a great season. We have local romas, vine ripened tomatoes and even some heirloom varieties beginning. I grilled a chicken for 2 hours on Friday and it still didn’t tell me why he crossed the road.
Local Produce – The local season continues to move forward. We have tomatoes, blueberries, yellow squash and zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, corn and cabbage available now. We’re reaching peak season on many items. Blueberries – Are still widely available locally and they’re having a great season. Quality has been beautiful. Corn – Has started in North Carolina fields and they’re starting out beautifully. BiColor was the first variety to become available, but white corn started at the end of this week. Grapes – Chilean grapes are finishing up, with Mexican and California growers carrying the baton now. Quality is very nice on the new crop grapes. Melons – Watermelons are coming into better volume in Georgia, and our local farmers are expecting to be into solid volume around July 4th. Onions – New Crop onion season has begun and pricing is much more affordable and quality is much improved over the storage crop. Vidalia has begun their sweet onion season and are poised for a great season also. Peaches – South Carolina peach farmers are still having a great season and a strong harvest. Plentiful supplies and beautiful quality are causing farmers to lower prices for this week. Potatoes – Idaho Russet pricing is still very good with the heavy crop they have in storage. Overall the supply in their storage warehouses has been good, so it’s been a smooth spring and we should easily transition to the new crop without any crazy markets. Strawberries – Nationally strawberries are in a glut. Lots of production, but light demand because of all of the other fruits available during summertime. Prices are about as low as they get right now. Squash & Zucchini– Locally they have been beautiful and supplies are increasing with the warm and dry weather. The heat this weekend my cause a bloom drop and a shortage, we’ll have to see. Tomatoes – Have started locally and they’ve been gorgeous. Big, ripe, and juicy, we’re looking forward to a great season. We have local romas, vine ripened tomatoes and even some heirloom varieties beginning. Q: What’s made of leather and sounds like a sneeze? A: A shoe
Produce Supply Update March 22nd, 2024: Asparagus – Are seeing a little bit of strength with Easter coming next weekend, but solid supplies out of Mexico and Peruvian fields making strong harvests. Quality has been very nice. Cabbage – Supplies are good and steady for the next several weeks. Warmer days have the fields bringing better volumes and heads sizing up. Corn – New seasonal harvests from Florida fields have got the corn deal rolling. Pricing is much better and we’re starting to see some size on the corn now that the temperatures are climbing. Cucumbers – As predicted, the market has begun to fall off on cucumbers. Florida finally has started their harvest and Mexican weather has warmed to allow better volumes. Prices are down considerably this week. Melons – Honeydew and cantaloupes demand remains light across the country. Most of the production is currently arriving from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. With sluggish demand, importers are looking to make deals. Quality remains very nice. Lettuce – Iceberg lettuce supplies remain limited this week with most growers reporting good supplies of romaine, green leaf, and red leaf. A recent hailstorm, combined with colder than average temperatures over the past two weeks, have impacted iceberg quality and decreased yields. Harvesters are trimming off outer leaves at field level to help keep the pack nice, but weights are lower as a result. Peppers – We are finally starting to see both Florida and Mexico with decent volume at the same time. We do need to remember that Florida will continue to experience peaks and valleys on yields due to previous weather. For now, we should see steady volume in the next two weeks. Colored peppers rose last week on light volumes. Strawberries – Are in a glut situation with several growing areas overproducing more berries than the market can use. Prices are very favorable right in time for Easter weekend. Tomatoes – Are finally settling downward as warmer weather in Florida is bringing on the crop. Quality and pricing are both improving rapidly on all varieties. Q: Why do cows have hooves? A: Because they lactose

July 4th, 2022 Supply Update: Happy Birthday USA! Local Blueberries are beginning to wind down, though a few farmers will continue to have product for another week or two.

American flag made of blueberries, strawberries and bananas

Happy Birthday USA!

Berries – Local Blueberries are beginning to wind down, though a few farmers will continue to have product for another week or two. New Jersey is already going strong and Michigan will pickup shortly so we should have good numbers of blueberries for a while yet.

Corn – Is plentiful locally as well as in more northern states. Quality has been amazing but heavy demand going into the 4th of July weekend is keeping the market up.

Cucumbers – Regular cucumbers are in tight supply currently, with our local farmers finishing up due to the heat. Our northern neighbors are starting to harvest but it’ll be a couple of weeks before we see strong volumes out of Michigan. European cucumbers remain in high volume and a great bargain at current pricing.

Grapes –Import grapes are done now, and good volumes of Mexican and California grapes are taking their place. Much better quality is being seen from the domestic supplies and markets are staying pretty level with the good supplies.

Melons – We have eastern Athena variety cantaloupes and Georgia honeydews now and they just don’t get any better than this. Feature them on your breakfast menus and your diners will enjoy the sweet ripe fruit that is only available during the summer months.

Peaches – Tree ripened peaches have been a huge hit so far this season and they’ve been beautiful. Free stone varieties are being harvested now and they’re absolutely delicious.

Potatoes – Idaho potatoes are extremely short suddenly with few shippers having enough product to fill orders. Quality issues in the storage barns showed up late in the season and drastically cut short the amount of potatoes that shippers had on hand. We’re working to keep your needs supplied until the new harvest begins in August.

Q: Did you hear about the new baguettes they’re selling at the zoo? They’re bread in captivity.