The Market Report - By Ken Klein

 

06/30/09

Greetings Food Lovers!

Here we are with the July 4th weekend arriving. This date has been marked on my calendar for some time. This is the traditional week for the start of the Jersey Blueberry season. With this in play, we should soon see Jersey tomatoes. A word of caution on the first of the season tomatoes. I was told years ago that the Jersey farmers pump them full of chemicals to get them to the market faster. The first of the season always brings much higher prices.

Did you know

There are approximately 30 different species of blueberries with different ones growing throughout various regions. Blueberries grow in clusters and range in size from a small pea to a marble. The blueberry is the second most popular berry in the United States ; the strawberry is number one.

Blueberries were not cultivated until the beginning of the 20th century, becoming commercially available in 1916. Blueberries have a sweet taste when mature, with variable acidity. The fruit is a false berry with a flared crown at the end. The berries are pale greenish at first, then reddish-purple and finally blue upon ripening.

The native Americans were the first to introduce berries to their diets. Blueberries are related to azaleas, camellias, heathers, and rhododendrons. Colonists in America used blueberries to make gray paint. Ninety percent of the world’s blueberry production comes from the United States . Blueberries will not ripen once they are picked.

Produce Talk

Problems in California .

Foggy and damp conditions have caused major problems with red and green leaf lettuce and romaine. Mildew has created crop damage and shippers will not send product to the east coast. We have very nice New Jersey lettuce available. But, our recent pattern of rain in the past weeks created product to be delivered sandy and dirty. If you do not wash and wash, your salad will have a crunchy taste.

Melons

The watermelon market is very tight right now with limited production from North Florida and Georgia. Due to earlier weather issues, shippers are experiencing much lower yields this year. A typical grower will harvest approximately 60 bins per acre vs. 25 bins per acre this year. This is a significant shortfall considering that we are heading into the 4th of July.

Cantaloupes, and honeydews are winding down in the Southwest, but Bakersfield has started in a small way with the Westside starting on Monday, which should keep prices under control. However, they should be much cheaper this time of year but they are not.

Apples & Pears

Prices are a little firmer on Red Delicious due to most shippers will not pack for the next two weeks as they concentrate on packing cherries. Other prices were steady with the exception on Gala apples as packers look for some movement because of light demands due to the availability of imported fruit. Bosc pears are tight with a few New Zealand fruit hitting around July 1st. There are good supplies of Packham pears. Chilean and Argentine Anjou pears are limited, but we will have Washington fruit available through this month. California Bartlett pears will start around the 15th of July.

Imported Citrus

Our first South African navels will arrive by June 30th. There is a good supply of Clementines from Chile and a few lemons.

California Citrus

We have a good supply on Valencia oranges from California . The lemon market is strong even with the start of Chilean fruit. The first arrivals from Chile sold out quickly and did not have much of an impact on the market at this time. Think lemonade, the demand is strong.

Stone Fruit

Peach supplies out of the Southeast is very light. Growers are throwing a lot of fruit out because of disease and weather related problems. Jersey will start by the end of the week. California has good supplies with good color and quality and prices came off a little. Nectarines have good supplies, color and size. Prices are steady. Plum supplies are good on both red and black plums. Prices are firm on larger fruit with cheap deals on smaller fruit.

Cherries

California cherries are finished and Washington State starting with good volume on Bings. The sugar content is much higher than last week.

Grapes

The market on red seedless grapes finally broke this week. Most growers started in the Bakersfield and Delano area with 19-pounders causing Mexico to drop their prices to keep inventory moving. California fruit is expected to be down this week. The market on white seedless was a little steadier with Mexican fruit being at the low end of the market.

Strawberries

Lack of demand and strong production have weakened the market drastically. Shippers out of Santa Maria and Watsonville are looking to make deals on what they have.

California are beginning to lighten up in volume with the first large wave of production ending. Blueberries are now available from New Jersey , but at more of a premium price than California or Carolina product. Look for the continued split market as the other growing regions wind down and Jersey continues to build. Rains last week kept growers in Jersey from picking fruit, but the gap will be short lived as production in the fields continue.

Iceberg Lettuce

California shippers are harvesting lighter numbers now due to decreased planting and the competition from the local growing regions on the East Coast and Canada . The cool overcast weather on the California coast hasalso played into the harvest numbers being smaller.

 

Have a fruitful week!

 

 

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