DLJ Produce

Table Grapes

Red Seedless

The Chilean red seedless market has finished. Only a small amount of trouble fruit remains, but all deliverable fruit is done historically early. The lack of post-marketing order arrivals this season created a demand-exceeds-supply situation that cleaned up inventories incredibly fast, at record-high FOB’s. No product remains outside of spot market pallet quantities. Mexico remains heavily delayed due to cool weather during the entire growing season. Harvest is not expected to start until roughly 5/22 – 5/27, and truly not kick in harvest volume until 2nd week of June. There will be a hard gap in red seedless until Mexico begins.

Green Seedless

Similar to reds, the green crop came, in short, mostly due to growing conditions. Storage arrivals of Sweet Globe and Autumn Crisp finished up quickly due to demand for green seedless at the finish. Only some small trouble lots of Thompson seedless remain that need repacking. Storage prices finished high but in line with previous seasons. With greens finishing, the pressure was put on red seedless that were non-existent as well. Mexico is significantly delayed, but is likely to start in a very light way this week. Perlete variety will be the only option, with Early Sweet falling behind if the weather warms. Harvest will slowly increase between May 15th – 20th, but the promotable volume that will fill the empty pipeline won’t arrive until 1st of 2nd week of June. Avoid promotions as we will see a gap and fight for early green seedless.

Black Seedless

The black grape market is finishing as well. The lack of red and green seedless helped to move the volume of black seedless faster then usual. No post-marketing order arrivals mean current inventories are cleaning up fast. Only a small amount of supply is expected to carry through this week, then done 5/15. FOB”s firming, but more aggressive then red and greens. Be cautious about the finish.

Red Globe

Virtually done for the season as well. Only a small amount remains, mostly on the East Coast. The lack of other colors will quickly clean up any remaining red globes. The gap will be long between growing regions, with Mexico not starting until late June on their first picks. Avoid promoting red globe.

Tree Fruit – Imports

Cherries

A very light harvest started last week, all destined for export at crazy money. Plus, it rained in Central Valley and up to Lodi, which is generally pretty terrible for cherries. Harvest volume out of the Arvin growing region will be limited until the weather warms and maturity picks up. Volume in Central CA is not until late in May. Harvest volume will start picking up right around Memorial Day, in time to allow for small volume ads but not nearly sharp enough on FOB pricing to drive aggressive retail promotions. The best volume will be the last week of May and early June from CA. Expect the ability to promote in June the CA crop and move through an estimated 8.5 million case crops. Loss/damage due to rain is pending formal reports from the field.

Peach

First, peach harvests are still delayed and still late. Arvin and Kettlemen both started in a very light way last week, peaking on small fruit in trays and volume fill. Cool overcast weather kept brix levels and size low at the start. White peach will follow next week. Fruit is going to be small in size at the start. Avoid carrying until harvest actually shows signs of starting. No promotions volume until Central CA is in full swing in June. Expect a slightly better harvest this week, but still slow.

Nectarine

Same thing as a yellow peach. A very light start last week, limited on pack volume and size. Expect harvest to slowly gain this week, but still peak on 64s and smaller. Remaining slow this week due to cooler weather. Zee Fire from Arvin in late May and leading to better harvest volume in mid-May from Central CA. Light promotions in late May but hold volume movement on both yellow and white nectarine until at least June.

Plums

Plums are virtually done from Chile, with only a small amount of black plum trays left. Quality remains strong on remaining supplies. CA cooler weather will delay starts, with the first plum harvest not until the last week of May/start of June. Hold until harvest begins.

Apricots

Kettlemen and Arvin started in a very light way, peaking on 84 ct 2 layers and smaller, with most fruit making it into 3 layers trays. These will be an apricot/pluot hybrid at the start. True varieties out of Central CA and Patterson growing regions will be right behind. Expect an average crop volume once harvest starts, but delays have pushed back both the maturity and size of the fruit. The volume will pick up by mid-May, with the promotion window in late May and most of June.

DLJ Produce is home to the finest and freshest produce nationwide. Our customers depend on our produce 365 days a year coast to coast. If you want to discuss fruits, vegetables, cold storage, organic produce or simply want to chat, give us a call today.