Asparagus – Mexican growers are reaching the end of their season and California, NC and Washington are getting started harvesting. Peruvian growers are still packing plenty of product. Quality is great across the board and supplies are very strong, keeping prices favorable for all.
Berries – NC Strawberries were a couple of weeks behind schedule this year and were just getting going last week until the cold on Thursday and Friday shut them down. We should be back into them this week. Blueberries in Florida estimate a 40% crop loss from the bad weather they received a few weeks ago. Georgia is about 2-3 weeks from full production. We will see the trifecta of limited availability, high market pricing, and rain on quality. Blackberries will remain tight until Mexico is done and California starts in June-July. Raspberry volume will not peak until sometime in May when a new growing region starts. Demand will continue to exceed supply until then.
Broccoli – Florida is well into their season and Georgia has started their season and they’re putting a lot of pressure on California growers to drop their pricing. Quality is excellent in all growing areas.
Cucumbers – Remain extremely limited and prices are staying strong. Quality has been nice on the product coming out of Florida.
Corn – Harvests are coming in strong and supplies are very good. Prices have stayed low this week.
Limes – Remain extremely tight and prices are staying very high.
Onions – Vidalia onions have started! We’ll have our first shipment early this week and are looking forward to the mild, sweet flavor of these gorgeous onions. They’re expecting a great season. New crop onions from Mexico and Texas are plentiful and have been really pretty and priced low for early onions.
Peppers – After a couple of months of rock bottom prices, the green pepper market started showing some strength with short supplies driving prices up. Colored pepper has gone the other way and farmers have more than they can sell so the bargains are on red, yellow and orange right now.
Squash – Prices are reaching rock bottom levels. Be aware that depressed markets can lead to growers abandoning fields because of higher costs of picking and packing than they’ll bring at market. Florida is getting into the game with their spring crop as new fields are starting to produce. It looks like Georgia will get going in a small way by the end of the week. Expect more volume from Georgia by the end of the month. Our local NC growers will be right behind that.
Q: Why is Dark spelled with a “K” and not a “C”?
A: Because you can’t see in the dark.
