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News That Is As Fresh As Our Produce
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October 24th, 2014
Five
BROCCOLI & ALERT!
CAULIFLOWER
ALERT!
Supplies are tight and quality is fair.
BUSH BERRIES
ALERT!
Quality is being affected by weather
damage.
GARLIC
ALERT!
Demand is very strong due to the
lack of Chinese Garlic available in
the market place for some suppliers.
MELON–HONEYDEW &
CANTALOUPE ALERT!
Supplies are extremely tight for
honeydew and cantaloupe.
TOMATOES
ALERT!
Supplies will be tight for the next 4 to
6 weeks- impacting all round, roma,
grape and cherry tomatoes.
Brix Avg
Brix: A percentage of soluble solids in
fruits are almost 100% sugar, therefore
refractometers are widely used to check
maturity in fruits. The number will be % of
solids as sucrose.
HONEYDEW &
CANTALOUPE 9-12%
PINEAPPLE 14%
Color: Gold
Brix Scale
Low: 8-10% | Avg: 11-13% | High: 14-17%
asparagus
Production is slowing down in Ica,
Peru and we are seeing more seeding in the spears with lower yields.
Several fields will be done in the coming weeks; new fields are coming on
board as temps improve. Freight remains high. White asparagus remains
very limited this week but expect
some relief for the Thanksgiving pull.
Production out West remains very
poor and not getting better any time
soon; the Baja and Obregon growing
areas are experiencing quality issues
and very poor yields. Some growers
are reporting up to 50% reduction.
avocado hass
Mexico: New crop fruit will take
longer to ripen with potential lenticel
(spotting) damage; supplies are
improving. CA is mostly done. Chile:
Lower volume crop this season.
bean, green
Good quality with occasional bruising; no other quality issues reported.
berries–black, blue
& raspberry ALERT!
Quality is being affected by weaker
texture and occasional weather
damage (where rains have occurred). Imported fruit is projected to
start arriving soon.
Information is subject to daily weather and market fluctuations and is meant to be used as a guide.
berry–strawberry
Recent early-fall heat continues to
depress strawberry quality due to
over ripeness, poor texture, and pin
rot; continuing to transition south to
Oxnard, CA.
broccoli & ALERT!
cauliflower
Broccoli condition and quality is mostly fair with hollow core, loose bead,
brown bead, and flowering. Supplies
remain tight. Cauliflower quality is fair
and impacted by mold, under sizing,
brown spotting and discoloration.
celery
Good condition and quality remain
overall (a southern transition is occurring); occasional dehydration and
sizing issues; cooler weather will help.
citrus–lemons
Lemons district 3, quality is good with
some occasional oil spotting and
staining visible in some lots. District 1
should start up slowly within a week.
citrus–limes
Quality is good with some potential supply concerns due to tropical
storms in Mexico.
freshPress
News That Is As Fresh As Our Produce
October 24th, 2014
Supplies are increasing from the
GA growing areas as favorable
weather conditions continue this
week, overall quality is good.
Minimal quality issues are being
reported from last week’s rains
which caused some yellowing,
pulled ends and scarring. The TN
and GA growing areas are done.
The northern FL growing area has
just started up with very light supplies. Eggplant supplies and quality
continue to be good from GA
again this week; good volume on
choice and fancy grade.
grapes
No major effects on quality;
imported fruit should start to arrive
next month.
lettuce
Iceberg quality fair in Salinas,
mostly good in Huron with defects
such as decay, bottom rot, heavy
seeder, tip burn , discoloration,
pinking, puffy, and mildew. White
fly is very prevalent in early parts of
Huron. Weights for liner avg. 44-47
lbs in Salinas and 40-41 lbs in Huron
this week. Leaf quality is being
affected by seeder and burn; and
a transition to Huron, CA will occur
over the next couple weeks. Romaine quality is being affected by
ribbiness, seeder, fringe burn, and
mildew; transition to Huron, CA will
occur over the next couple weeks.
onions
The new crop for yellow onions is
seeing occasional bruising, mechanical damage and misshape. Red
new crop quality remains good.
Please Distribute to:
Executive Chef, General Manager, Kitchen Manager,
Purchasing Manager, F&B Manager
peppers
Supplies are lighter this week,
with fair to good quality being
reported, GA is the main source
on the East Coast as Canada is
finished. Peppers will be mostly in
the extra-large or choice range
with other sizes mixed in until newer
fields become available. The last
planted pepper fields will be coming onboard within the next 5 to 7
days in GA with improved supplies
and quality.
squash
Overall, supplies from GA continue
to improve every day with favorable weather conditions. More
zucchini are available than yellow
squash, with more scarring issues in
the yellow squash. Expect supplies
and quality to improve in the next
3 to 7 days from GA. Crookneck
squash continues to be limited
again this week. North FL has started up, and supplies are expected
to improve moving forward.
potatoes
Occasional bruising is reported
on new crop russets. Florida Red/
white/Yukon potatoes start up
around November.
tomatoes
ALERT!
Tomato crops are transitioning from
summer growing regions into fall
crops in GA, FL and Mexico. There
will be a 4-6 week gap in supply
due to an early freeze in western
NC and eastern TN, damage
caused by 3 hurricanes crossing
Baja and an earlier than normal finish to Central CA growing season.
For the next 4 weeks, tomatoes
supplies will be tight impacting all
round, roma, grape and cherry
tomatoes.
Information is subject to daily weather and market fluctuations and is meant to be used as a guide.
Supply
Asparagus
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Corn
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Green Beans
Herbs
Lettuce – Iceberg
Lettuce – Fresh-Cut
Lettuce – Leaf (G/R)
Lettuce – Romaine
Lettuce – Spring Mix
Mushrooms
Onions - Yellow
Onions - Red
Onions – Green
Peas – Snow
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FRUIT
Apples
Avocado, Hass
Bananas (CR/HN)
Bananas (GU)
Berries – Blackberries
Berries - Blueberries
Berries – Raspberries
Berries – Strawberries
Citrus - Grapefruit
Citrus – Lemons
Citrus – Limes
Citrus – Oranges
Grapes
Kiwifruit
Melon – (C/H)
Melons Watermelon
Pears
Pineapple
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LOW
DECREASING
AVG
INCREASING
HIGH
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Peppers – Chiles
Peppers – (G/R/Y)
Potatoes – Russet
Potatoes (R/W/Yuk)
Potatoes – Yams
Spinach
Squash – Yellow
Squash – Zucchini
Tomatoes
Price
LOW
VEGETABLES
DECREASING
Cantaloupes are very tight, quality is
fair and sugars are 9%. Honeydews
are also tight with quality reported
as good; sugars 12-14%. Both are
coming from AZ and Mexico.
Reality Check
AVG
cucumber &
eggplant
melon–honeydew
& cantaloupe ALERT!
INCREASING
The remaining Valencia's quality is
mostly fair to poor, with the CA crop
just about done. Fukomoto Navels
starting with minimal product packing this week but increasing.
HIGH
citrus–oranges