Happy New Year!
Apples – Harvest is complete and we have a bumper crop of apples to sell this season. The crop this year will be around 140-million cases which makes it one of the largest crops ever! The growing conditions were very good and, besides producing a large crop, it also created high color and high-quality apples this year. We expect to have good supplies and great opportunities to promote apples from now until the summer of 2024.
Asparagus – Remains high, with limited production and shippers still trying to catch up after the high holiday demand. They’re expecting a change in about 2 more weeks.
Cabbage – Our local farmers are still harvesting good volumes of beautiful cabbage, though they’re wrapping up and Georgia will begin soon, bringing stronger volume to the market and easing pricing.
Grapes – Though a handful of California grapes are still making their way across the country, we’ll be making the switch to import grapes over the coming weeks. We should see improved quality with the move.
Melons – We’re getting honeydews, cantaloupe and watermelons now from Mexico and central America. Pricing is very favorable because of good supply and lighter demand during the cooler season.
Peppers, Squash, Cucumbers – Strong winds and heavy rains in South Florida curtailed harvesting and drove prices higher. Mexican fields are struggling to fill the gap and sellers are fetching a premium for whatever is available.
Potatoes – The new year begins with strong supplies of potatoes of all varieties. Idaho continues to deal with a bumper crop of russets and is looking for business. Reds and golds are in abundance in multiple growing regions. Traditionally, potato sales sag in January as not too many New Year’s resolutions involve eating more potatoes.
Strawberries – California has very light supplies on strawberries due to previous rain and cold weather. Central Mexico also has very light supplies. Florida has light production and California is seeing weather-related defects. Strawberries will be very limited for the first couple of weeks of January until there is drier, warmer weather in the growing regions. This doesn’t bode well going into Valentine’s Day
