Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Cabbage – Good supplies available this week for your Holiday menus. Demand is strong this week, keeping prices solid, but we should see easing next week with solid weather increasing harvests in Florida.
California Products – The Salinas Valley has been experiencing major rain and flooding. The record rainfall has caused the Salinas River to breach its levee in several areas, jeopardizing crops that were planted with an original projected harvest date from mid-April to mid-May. This will lead to significant yield loss as well as postponing any planting dates that were supposed to take place this week and next. There is another 1-3in of rain expected today with more rain expected for the end of the week. Growers are also expecting quality issues from the Yuma Valley/Imperial Valley desert region, with temperatures expected to rise exponentially, which will cause quality issues on some Veg items. Long story short, prices are about go go out of sight on most California items, and will stay like that for a couple of months.
Eastern Vegetables – Warm days Florida last week caused premature harvests on many items and dropped the market with the flood of product all at one time. We’re expecting a short term gap next week and stronger pricing as pickers go to the field to find little product available.
Honeydew & Cantaloupes – Both melons remain limited right now with slow harvests in Honduras keeping supplies light. Prices are steady. Warmer days are bringing melons back to the menu.
Lettuce – Iceberg and leaf lettuce supplies are readily available this week with good overall quality. Markets are lower currently, but we’re expecting a HUGE gap once the transition to those flooded fields begins next month.
Potatoes – Overall demand for potatoes remains light. Florida has started with new crop reds, yellows, and whites as the storage crop is winding down. New crop reds are already leveling off in pricing with whites and yellows still priced higher. We expect pricing to decline in the next few weeks or so. Lower demand for russets is keeping prices level.
Squash & Zucchini – Quality of yellow squash continues to be an issue in both growing regions. Mexico cannot shake all the issues they have had with weather. Florida is getting into new fields, so we hope quality will improve in the upcoming weeks. Zucchini continues to be available in both regions.
Q: What’s the difference between Iron Man and Aluminum Man?
A: Iron Man stops the bad guys, Aluminum Man foils their plans.
