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.
Asparagus – Easter is always a big weekend for asparagus, but supplies seem to be good from Mexican growers as the pull for the holiday gets started. We may see a bit of a bump in pricing, but we’re not expecting it to be very dramatic.
Avocados – Pretty weather in the avocado groves has good harvests during the middle of the season. Markets are stable as we move into warmer months and higher demand.
Eastern Vegetables – Solid, dependable weather in Florida has many items in strong production. Corn, cucumbers, zucchini, and beans are all widely available and pricing is improving as we see strong harvests and a solid supply. Yellow Squash continues to be a struggle as quality has suffered with the wind scarring many of the fruits.
Eggs – Easter always sees a huge increase in demand for eggs, with all of the breakfast menus and colored eggs putting pressure on the chickens. This year is no exception and pricing is climbing in anticipation of the high demand. Stick with the premium but better priced cage free eggs that we offer to save money.
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 northern flooded fields begins next month.
Strawberries – Hold onto your hats, because the strawberry deal is going to get rough over the next weeks. As the transition should be seasonally moving to the Watsonville area in California, they’ll be moving to flooded fields that have not been planted yet. Drastic shortages are expected in California. Fortunately, our local growers are starting to harvest in a small way, so we’ll rely on them to keep us supplied for a while.
Q: How much did the Italian Chef pay for his pasta?
A: A penne
