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Market Alerts & Produce Updates

For the Week of September 18, 2023

The following updates and alerts were culled in collaboration with our growing family of brands. Scroll through both lists to help prepare for upcoming obstacles and opportunities.

Market Alerts

Grain
Another week went by with the soybean crop score being reduced, which has significant effects on harvest and production. Yet soybean oil futures experienced a significant decline. The price of canola seed futures kept falling. Farmers are able to continue harvesting due to the dry weather. Together with soybean oil futures, palm oil moved.
Dairy
Shell egg markets are stable. Cheese prices rose this week and are expected to hold steady. This week's butter markets are down once more, but there still have some positive undertones. The price of Cream and Culture will rise across most of the nation, but it won't change in September in California.
Beef
Market activity has paused. Buyers are pausing because of the sporadic appearance of tenders and ribs. The pipeline is still filled with strips, mainly Choice, but packers are reluctant to get rid of them. Packers and buyers are still keeping an eye on the price difference between strips and ribs in anticipation of a change in sales. Chucks and rounds keep displaying equilibrium. 73% and 81 lean grinds exhibit milder undertones.
Pork
The butt markets are still strong, but after Labor Day, demand fell and the markets should fall. Right now, there are little indications that the ribs are moving. Due to a decline in retail demand, loin prices are going down. Still dropping rapidly are belly sizes.
Poultry
Bird weights continues to be impacted by the heat in the south. After weeks of increases, the breasts have stabilized. There is a great need for and a limited quantity of tenders. All sizes of wings are in high demand and in short supply. On the back of rising demand, dark meat is heading higher.
Seafood
The supply of raw tilapia materials has been impacted by the floods in China. It is yet unknown how much it will impact our accessibility and price. The Alaskan King Crab season has been canceled again for the sixth consecutive year. If you're seeking for alternatives to king crab, the South American Santolla crab and Golden king crab are both excellent choices.

Produce Updates

Weather effects are beginning to cause lower yields across several commodities combined with overall higher demand markets are beginning to rise. Lettuce supplies out of the Salinas Valley remain steady with overall good quality. Growers continue to see quality issues, such as tip burn, mildew, INSV, Sclero, and Fusarium. Cauliflower, broccoli, and broccolini supplies have tightened due to quality issues caused by warmer temperatures. Broccolini supplies will remain tight for the next 2-3 weeks. Light broccoli supplies should be short-lived, with products arriving out of Mexico.
Asparagus
The effects of El Niño continue in all Mexican and Peruvian growing regions. Production is still very heavy on small and standard sizing. Markets continue to be short on Large, XL and Jumbo sizes. Mexican and Peruvian quality is fair due to the heat.
Bananas
Steady volume on the horizon expected and no quality issues; fruit size will remain smaller than normal but should be improving.
Beans, Green
Markets are mixed, and there is a wide range of quality by region.
Blueberries
Due to seasonality, Michigan, New Jersey, and British Columbia have started to close fields. Argentina's production is low due to cold temperatures in the growing region. Peru will not come in as early or with as much volume as last year so this may help to extend seasons out of the Pacific Northwest. Quality has been good in OR and BC; BC is slightly better with firmer fruit.
Bok Choy
Supplies are increasing with very good quality.
Broccoli
We are seeing good quality but lighter supplies, market is stronger. We will continue to see supplies decreasing through the month due to affects from the higher temps/ higher humidity the last few weeks.
Brussels Sprouts
The sprout market remains strong but supplies are increasing, and we expect shippers to be in seasonal volume in 7-10 days as volume should ramp up for the fall. Anticipate much better volume for the balance of the year.
Cabbage, Green
Supplies continue to improve with very good quality. Demand is good.
Cabbage, Napa
Supplies are still very light, and the market remains very active.
Cabbage, Red
Supplies continue to increase with very good quality. Pricing continues to adjust down.
Carrots
Overall supply is good but sizing is small, and jumbos in California are in lighter supply. Quality is good.
Cauliflower
We continue to see lighter supplies although quality is very good. Expect the market to remain strong for the balance of the month.
Cilantro
Cilantro supplies continue to be lighter than normal this week, but quality is good.
Cucumber
Overall, the quality is good. Improving supply and quality crossing through Otay, as well as McAllen. In the east, the local deals continue onward.
Grapes, Green/Red
Lighter supply and firmer markets will continue. Some growers are reporting 30%+ losses going into their midseason varieties and we are starting to receive Force Majeure letters. We will certainly see volume impacting the remainder of the California fresh as well as storage season. We do anticipate a shorter than normal season all around and potentially volatile markets until the offshore deal gets underway. Growers are doing the best they can to pack the best grapes that were not affected by the rain, but we do expect to see quality issues.
Herbs
Overall quality has improved with better weather. Dill production is still being affected by heat. Due to weather and pest issues, domestic and imported chervil production continues to be low. Italian Parsley can be used as a substitute, and fresh Tarragon at ½ the amount. Weather continues to affect all herbs from Colombia.
Lemons
Demand continues to be very strong with light supplies, especially on Fancy grade and small sizes. Argentina and Chile are expected to finish early this season and D3 is scheduled to start in early to mid-October.
Lettuce, Boston/Butter/Green/Red
Supplies are good with very good quality. The market is steady and will remain steady into next week.
Lettuce, Iceberg
Supplies continue to be steady with good volume continuing into next week with good quality. The forecast is for steady prices at current levels with no major changes predicted.
Lettuce, Romaine
The quality and condition of Romaine and Romaine Hearts has been good although we continue to see small amounts of tip burn which we will continue to see with the warmer weather ahead. Growers are doing their best to mitigate this at the harvesting level. As a result, we have seen some lighter than normal weights. We will continue to see steady volumes into next week. The market is steady on both carton romaine and romaine hearts.
Limes
Significant rain throughout all areas of Mexico is causing a supply shortage. Rain, extreme heat, and humidity has impacted quality and shelf life, which contributes to contribute to low yields/availability. The crop has transitioned to the new growing areas although overall crossings continue to decline. Market continues to be very strong.
Mushrooms
Quality is good despite supply being lighter than expected.
Onions, Green
Green onions continue to remain in extremely short supply with marginal quality due to weather related issues. Most shippers are in a demand exceeds supply situation and need to pro-rate to get orders shipped. We expect this current situation to continue into early to mid-October when new fields can be harvested.
Onions, Yellow/Red
The market appears to have settled out in Northwest. While California is down to only a few shippers, they are still showing a presence on the USDA Market Report. For the most prat, everything is coming out of the Northwest. White onions remain in tight supply and their elevated price is reflective of that. We are seeing much better size on yellows in the Northwest as well, with Colossal and Super Colossal sizes being in good supply. To the surprise of many, the market has remained relatively stagnant across the board on all colors and sizes. It was expected to come down pretty fast with the typical tidal wave of new supply entering the market all at once.
Peppers, Green
Steady volume out of California, the east coast volume is steady out of North Carolina and Michigan. Overall quality is good.
Peppers, Red
Markets are active and supply very short this week due to lighter supply in California and Canada’s open field season ending much sooner than expected. We are seeing stable supply on 11# fruit but demand is much higher putting upward pressure on price. We hope this market improves over the next 2 weeks. Quality remains strong.
Potatoes, Russet
We are beginning to see some stability in the market at the current price levels. Even though potatoes have not been through the sweat yet, and cannot be stored, there is not much room left for the market to fall. Growers will likely have the luxury of being able to turn down prices if they are too low and focus on storing. We are seeing Washington’s early potatoes sizing on the larger range – so 40ct through 70ct have been plentiful, and there have been a lot of straight load deals. In Idaho, tuber counts are high, which tells us that yields are strong.
Squash, Yellow/Zucchini
Good demand and lighter volume continue to keep prices higher this week. North Carolina, Michigan, and Tennessee will continue production until first frost while we are still assessing the damages to South Georgia after Idalia. In the west, we continue to cross supply in McAllen and Nogales is slated to start in October. Santa Maria continues to see lower numbers.
Tomatoes, Cherry
Very light supply available this week out of the east. Very light crossing this week out of Mexico, and we continue to see stronger pricing and good demand on the horizon. Overall the quality is good.
Tomatoes, Roma
Out of the east, improving volume is expected over the next ten days. We have seen a lot of rain that has delayed harvesting multiple days but expect several days of favorable conditions for harvesting. weather over the next few days will dry out the fields, and we will see some steady picking days on the schedule. Fruit generally looks good; we are seeing some quality issues related to rain but expect that to improve soon.

California Weather Alert

December 13, 2022 – The West Coast and San Joaquin Valley of California, has been receiving rainfall over the last few days, impacting all growing areas including Salinas, Santa Maria, Oxnard, into southern California and the Central Valley.

As a result, this has caused delays as fields are too muddy to harvest. Unfortunately, there has not been enough rain to reverse the major drought conditions they continue to experiencing, but is enough to affect harvesting for a few days.

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