Asparagus – Market conditions are depressed. Volume exceeds demand. Every growing region (domestic and imports) is in full production currently. This will continue for the next couple of weeks but we’ll probably see some higher demand for Memorial day.
Berries – NC strawberries are finished for the season, but they had a great year. We’ll be moving back to California for the rest of the year. NC Blueberries are going strong now and many farmers are picking lots of product.
Cucumbers – Remain extremely limited and prices are staying strong. Everyone is kind of waiting for Georgia to begin harvesting for more volume.
Corn – Harvests are coming in strong and supplies are very good. Prices have risen this week in anticipation of Memorial Day demand.
Grapes – Across the industry, we are seeing a shift from the end of the import grape season (Peru/Chile) and into our new-crop Mexican grape season. This is a much-needed shift in supply to support demand. The last several weeks, grapes were a challenge with both quality and supply from Chile. We expect to see a big push in volume out of Mexico this season; quality will be strong and volume will be heavy throughout June. This week, much of this transitional fruit will start out of Mexico on green seedless, while red seedless harvests are on target to start next week, along with black seedless.
Limes – Better harvests are putting pressure on the high markets and pricing is falling fast. Quality is improving with the better supplies.
Onions – Vidalia onions have started! We have our first Vidalia Sweets in stock and are looking forward to a great season for them. Feature them on your menus while they’re available.
Squash – We received our first local squash of the season late last week and are looking forward to a strong growing summer. Squash is usually the first vegetable to come off locally and then we’re off to the races with a wide variety of products on the way.
Labor Problems – Every industry is facing big trouble hiring enough staff to fill their positions and do business. The produce industry is no different and it’s manifesting in farmers and shippers unable to find enough pickers to harvest, enough people to run their packing sheds and operate forklifts to load outbound trucks. We expect this to stay this way until September. Many of our customers have the same problem; unable to hire enough servers, kitchen staff, etc.
Q: What is the fastest growing city in the world?
A: The capital of Ireland. It’s Dublin every day.
