DLJ Produce

Table Grapes

Red Seedless

Volume is now. Peak volumes of Flame red seedless have harvested out of both Mexico and Coachella and are expected to continue for another 7 – 10 days. Promotable volume and pricing will be at their lowest for the season, with good quality able to push sales. The market is expected to firm in late June, with both regions transition into premium varieties like Sweet Celebration, Jack Salute, and Passion Fire. FOB’s will push up and create a stronger market on premium varieties. Central CA is expected to start between 6/28 – 7/5 with light supplies, building momentum to a mid-July full go. This will create some overlap of regions, but with higher growing and production costs, Mexico is expected to finish strong.

Green Seedless

Growers are picking through their last Early Sweet in Nogales, with the transition into Sugraone and Sweet Globe taking place. Give it another 7 days before the full transition occurs. This varietal shift will allow for bigger fruit and higher sugar content to bring about a peak on green seedless by the week of Jun 21^st. Coachella has struggled up until this point to begin harvest Sugraone, but that tied has begun to turn as more fruit is starting to harvest and try to catch up to peak levels of harvest coming from Mexico.

Black Seedless

Black grapes will continue on strong from both growing regions, with at least another 2 – 3 week runway of a good harvest. Quality has been strong, mainly on Summer Royal variety, with Mexico leading the charge on volume. FOB’s will stay in line with the red and green seedless market to allow for all three colors running together.

Red Globe

Mexico is still waiting for a red globe start. Still anticipated the week of June 21^st.

Tree Fruit Central CA

Peaches/ Nectarines/ Apricots

Yellow peach is the strong suit for the next month, with Spring Flame harvesting now and transitioning into other Flame varieties later in June. Promote yellow peach. White peach is in the same boat, with the weakness of the Snow Angel movement moving right into Snow Fox that is picking now. Nectarines are expected to remain tight for the foreseeable future. Harvest volume and size have been drastically behind the yellow peach category. This should correct itself over the next 10 – 14 days with volume steadily increasing on both white and yellow. Apricots will continue to cruise for the next 10 days, and then start tailing off. The plum market has stayed increasingly strong on FOB’s, but mainly due to low harvest volume on the front end. Flavor Queen will finish and finally allow for better varieties to push through. This will help bring on volume and availability.

Cherries

What was a super tight cherry market 2 weeks ago has flipped instantly on CA growers head. The pressure from Washington, with crop harvest looming, has movement in push mode for the last two weeks of harvest. Most growers are still packing in the Lodi / Stockton and will transition to Hollister fruit quickly to try to get fruit off the tree. Quality is strong in California, but with the weight difference between the two, it is always a retailer favorite to transition into Washington.

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