The Market Report - By Ken Klein

 

2/7/09

Greetings Food Lovers!

In the thirty years of operating Kleins Supermarket, I have never witnessed such a multifaceted approach of damaging weather conditions such as we are presented with now.

Last week, I received a flood of emails alerting the industry of intense storms approaching the California coast from the deep Pacific Ocean region. This time of year, the central growing regions of California receive about a half inch of rain. The first storm’s wallop was promising 5 to 6 inches in a 2 day period, with mountain snows promising 3 to 10 feet of powder. This, plus the second storm, will stop workers from getting to the fields, hamper transportation to the east and will curtail distance shipping due to some of the harvest will just not have enough life to remain stable.

Many Florida vegetable packinghouses remained at a standstill Jan. 21 as Florida grower-shippers recover from nearly two weeks of freezing temperatures that devastated their crops. State agricultural officials say produce shipments have declined significantly and Florida ’s growers will likely sustain hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Packings have ground to a halt in Immokalee — the principal winter tomato and bell pepper growing region — and in Homestead and Belle Glade where growers grow and pack other vegetables such as green beans, sweet corn and squash.

Fred Moore, a salesman for Five Bros. Produce Inc., Homestead , said no one has been running green beans, which suffered up to 95% damage. He said the Miami-Dade County production region also suffered up to 70% losses on yellow and zucchini squash. Five Bros. tried to run a crop of beans on Jan. 20 but because of the load having too much frozen and dehydrated damage, the packer after an hour had to stop and dump all the beans into the cull shoot, he said. “It is absolutely devastating what we have suffered here,” Moore said Jan. 21.

Growers in Homestead, along with Belle Glade and Immokalee, which also sustained heavy freeze damage, grows beans through late April and early May. Spring bean plantings, however, remain unscathed and should start on-time as normal in early March, Moore said. On Jan. 21, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported light supplies of green beans, with bushel cartons at $45, compared to the market high of $11 at the same time last year. The freeze is affecting markets of Mexican green beans, with 30-pound cartons up to $32.95, more than twice the f.o.b. at the same time last year.

Buyers of Florida winter vegetables and tomatoes should expect smaller volumes and higher than normal prices until the new spring plantings mature.

Many of south Florida ’s packinghouses that would normally be busy with green beans, sweet corn, bell peppers, squash and tomatoes remain at a standstill, causing some prices to shoot to very high levels. On Jan. 26, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it expected Florida beans, peppers and tomatoes of all types to decline in movement during the next two weeks. We should see supplies down up to 75%.There will be a roller coaster ride of supply and quality issues for the next two months.

Winter is prime time for lettuce in Yuma , Arizona with nearly all of California ’s major lettuce grower-shippers relocating there to keep leafy green supplies consistent. Growers continued to face muddy conditions in Yuma , Ariz. , the week of Jan. 25 as a powerful storm dropped record rainfall days before in desert growing region. Crews have been struggling to get harvesting equipment into the fields, sometimes towing equipment with trucks, and were forced to stop work during heavy rains.

Produce Talk

California Citrus

Growers were able to get into the fields and pick navel oranges; however, more rain is expected. There is good availability on choice and fancy fruit for the week and prices are holding steady. The lemon market is steady on larger sizes, but smaller sizes are becoming tight and prices are increasing. Ample supplies of Minneola tangelos, Pummelos, Blood oranges, Cara Caras’ and

Clementines are available.

Florida Citrus

Grapefruit is peaking on the smaller sizes with limited amounts of those real big ones we love to eat.

Growers are packing juice oranges, which are running on the bigger sizes. Honey tangerines have good supplies on all sizes and we should see great quality lasting into March. Temples and Orlando tangelos are in great shape even with all the talk of gloom and doom from the Florida freeze. Honeybell tangelos are finished for the season.

Grapes

The grape market is sloppy on both red and white seedless varieties. Prices are everywhere with a variance of up to $10 a box depending on size and color. There are great deals out there but the higher prices are going for those extra large gems.

Strawberries

It has been over a month since I last saw some nice strawberries and this situation will remain for some time. Southern California suffered heavy rains last week. If the rains continue to taper off there should be some availability early this week. Any strawberries shipped will show rain damage and have a lighter color. Shipping farther than the Midwest was not recommended; however, orders were still taken.

Central Mexico still has good supplies and Florida ’s supplies are increasing, but expect the market to tighten towards the end of the week. Expect most of the berries to be arriving from Mexico during the next few weeks.

Cucumbers

The demand for cucumbers from Mexico should increase dramatically by the middle of the week due to the shortage in Florida product. There will be substantial market increases in Nogales on Mexican product as demand grows and production is limited. The growing regions of Mexico received rain last week, which halted some of the harvest. Supplies were light, but should improve this week.

Asparagus

Asparagus remains high due to most shippers beginning to transition from 11 lb. to 28 lb. packs. Mexican grown asparagus will be the majority of the volume, although some Peruvian imports will continue to arrive in Miami . The market could have a slight increase in demand this week, but no price changes are expected.

Green Beans

The prices are going up and will remain higher as all product is being sourced from Nogales in Mexico due to the freeze earlier this month in Florida . Expect prices to remain high until late February when product becomes available again from the East Coast.

Broccoli

Demand is down and good supplies of broccoli are available from multiple growing regions. Shippers are making deals daily to try to spark movement.

Green Bell Peppers

We will begin to feel the affects of the Florida freeze this week. Normal volume is expected from Mexico , but high demand for product will come from buyers that normally purchase from Florida . The high demand for product from the East Coast will cause a dramatic upward trend in pricing until Florida ’s spring crop begins. Also, Mexico had rain last week, which prevented some shippers from harvesting. Due to this gap in harvest, supplies were light, but are expected to improve as February begins.

Tomatoes

Supplies of round tomatoes continue to be steady. Florida has cleaned up most of its supplies that were harvested prior to the freeze. Expect to see prices climb within a few weeks. Most of the volume will be from Homestead , Florida as growers were not as adversely affected by the

cold weather.

Plum tomatoes also remain in good supply. We should continue at these low prices for another week until supplies become more limited. Quality has been exceptional on all Roma tomatoes. There are ample supplies of grape tomatoes for the next few weeks. Cherry tomatoes are very limited at this time and are arriving from Mexico .

Zucchini

Prices remain reasonable on zucchini considering the damage done in Florida , but yellow zucchini is extremely high. The rains in Mexico are the reason behind these high prices since yellow is more delicate than green and shows the sign of rainy weather.

Celery

Demand currently exceeds supply. Rain and cooler weather in California has created shortages. Prices are up about 50 cents a bunch.

Have a fruitful week!

 

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