DLJ Produce

Table Grapes

Red Seedless

Red seedless volume is here… and getting built towards promotable volume. FOB pricing has started to adjust but remains higher for premium variety and quality from Chile. Peru will continue to arrive with Allison and Sweet Celebration. Chile will mostly be Ralli, Flame, and Sweet Celebration at the start. Continue to push movement on red seedless and plan for mid-February ad promotions. Once Chilean volume truly arrives quality and promotional ability will stabilize.

Green Seedless

Green seedless will start to gain momentum as Chile starts to increase harvest volume. Peru will remain limited with Sweet Globe and Autumn Crisp due to political unrest. Chile’s volume will continue to increase over the next few weeks and build to a mid to late February focus on moving green seedless. Now is the time to start building momentum. This week will see good arrivals, mostly of Thompson, Sugraone, and Sweet Globe from Chile. Continue to promote.

Black Seedless

Demand exceeds supply on black seedless. Peru has been non-existent in arrivals and Chile has just begun arriving in better volume. Expect FOB pricing to stay firm and availability to remain limited for the next 10 – 14 days until Chilean volume increases. Avoid promoting until supplies stabilize in late February. Then March and April will allow for better availability when Autumn Royal starts the harvest.

Red Globe

Red globe availability has stabilized on both East and West Coasts, with Peru volume coming on fighting the vessel delays from political unrest. Expect some gaps between vessel arrivals that may slow down availability, but in general FOB pricing and availability are stable enough to continue mixing in red globe volume.

Tree Fruit – Imports

Cherries

Done for the season on promotable volume. Only a small amount is still arriving from Chile, with FOB pricing firming quickly to keep a few out in the general market. Gap until CA starts in April.

Peach

Limited, limited, limited. No relief in sight on the yellow peach as the volume remains extremely tight. The Hellas Stream on the West Coast due February 17th is still extremely light on yellow peach. This is due to a combination of weather and historical FOB pricing in the US not being high enough to return money back to the field. Growers have dug out and transitioned crops into other commodities, bringing down total crop volume to the West. White peach is non-existent. Avoid promoting peach and only carrying as a mixer item on stone fruit.

Nectarine

Yellow nectarine arrivals to the West and East are both in good supply. As the peach market struggles, the yellow nectarine is promotable. Mostly peaking on large 40 series tray pack, with some smaller / larger trays. Volume fill will also be available. White nectarine has remained tight due to demand, even though there is fruit arriving on both coasts.

Plums

Limited at the start. Very small arrivals have started on both Black Splendor and Sapphire red plums. Expected to stay limited until better varieties start to harvest and volume builds. Use as a color break on day-to-day availability until volume increases.

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