Apples – The apple market remains firm this week as demand remains good. We expect this tight market to remain this way for the next several weeks as inventories are less than last year at this time. The tightest items are Granny Smith, large Fuji, Golden Delicious, large Red Delicious and large Galas. Over half of the varieties have now started up with new crop apples out in Washington and the rest will start up in the next couple of weeks. It is too early to predict the size of the new crop but the impact of the heat wave in Washington will certainly be a negative on the overall size and storability of the new crop.
Asparagus – Became extremely tight over the past few weeks due to shipping difficulties. There’s asparagus out there, but the ships don’t seem to be making it to port on time, causing shortages.
Avocados – Pricing keeps on easing down with softer fall demand and stronger production.
Broccoli – The industry has been hit with substantial drops in yields in these past few weeks. Recent heat and humidity are the primary reasons, along with disease pressure associated with the weather causing issues. These conditions have affected growth and quality, resulting in reduced supplies and an extreme industry shortage and a spike in market prices.
Cabbage – Though our local growers should be harvesting cabbage right now, all of the rains last week caused quality issues that have shut down production. Until things dry out, we’ll continue pulling from the northeast.
Cucumbers – Have been coming in locally but quality has been a bit iffy on them due to our rains. Georgia should add some much needed quality and volume to the market.
Peaches – Are finishing up this week, after a great season. Now it’s time to start looking forward to fall fruits and vegetables.
Potatoes – Currently loading out of Idaho and Washington. Very limited production out of both locations during this time of the year, but it should be greatly improved in October.
Squash – We still have not seen the surplus volume of zucchini from Georgia. Cooler weather has slowed down yields, but quality of both green and yellow has been outstanding! The Mexican season has started and there is some zucchini being reported in Nogales.
Tomatoes – We saw some significant market changes last week as rains on the east coast finished or slowed harvest in several areas. Prices are stronger on the lighter supplies. Our local growers are still coming to market and we’ll stick with them as long as they have product.
Q: What starts with an “O”, ends in “ions” and sometimes make you cry?
A: Opinions.
