Market Notes
  January 7, 2016

THE NEW DEALS

We made it through the NYC Food Show, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years without any FUBAR situations, so now it is time to get back to specialty marketing. Here is the run down. Our first shot of snow peas and sugar snap peas hit the west coast and the quality exceeds that of Peru. We are almost through our first shipment. Prices are highly competitive and we can consolidate anywhere in the LA market area. Finger Limes are past peak of production and we have only five to eight weeks left of the winter program. Our new 12/50 gram retail pack is a hit and prices for these extended shelf life clamshells are finally in line. Prices are down for bulk product as well. Midnight Moon and Masquerade potatoes remain in “get to know us” status so there are great deals to be had if you are interested in actually marketing these tasty taters. Good news on the MM&M is that we now offer distribution out of Colorado, Pennsylvania, and now California as well.

THE POT KEEPS MARCHING ON

Ok! We admit it. We are fascinated on how the Marijuana industry is going to affect the produce/agriculture industry. We are convinced that within a few years or sooner it will be nationally legal and federally legal. Once the banks jump in and the Feds jump out the business will go crazy. So many laws will have to be rewritten. For example last week, incoming from Mexico, there was a one million dollar pot bust hidden amongst a load of bananas and a six hundred thousand pot bust disguised as broccoli. That is in one week. What will be done with that product when it is legal? How does PACA handle that? Domestic growth will be fascinating.

YUMA UPDATE

El-Nino is here! The temperatures are warmer in the east and cooler in the west. The bands of rain are steady on the west coast. The rain is also in the desert. Nights are at forty and days are no warmer that sixty-five degrees. Rain has made working the fields very difficult over the last several days. This has literally shut down the harvest of broccoli and cauliflower and slowed down the growth of everything. Fortunately for baby greens the growing period is shorter and it is much easier to raid some fields early and catch up at the other end with an accelerated rotation schedule. All orders are being filled and the prediction is for more of the same or warmer temps for Yuma and Southern California. Rain will be greater than usual as a symptom of the El Nino. So now that we know the pattern for this season the only question is the severity. If patterns repeat we will follow up with a LA Nina in 2017. If it were easy….

NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – – WHO AM I???

There are more than a thousand varieties in my family. A child of the seventies, I’m American born and bred, but I’ve settled-in worldwide. My mother was English and my father was Chinese, originally from the Mediterranean. I got my mama’s sweetness and plumpness, and my father’s skin. I grow on a herbaceous annual plant with weak, hollow stems and can climb as high as 8 feet. If you pick my flowers, I’ll never form. You’ll value eating all of me, because my seed hull lacks the stiff papery parchment that is not edible on my mother’s side of the family. I grow in cooler climates, so please leave my jacket on. Firm, smooth, crisp, 2 to 3 inches long — select me when I’m fully turgid, but before I bulge; and eat me right away, before my seeds turn starchy. You’ll enjoy me topped and tailed and always unstrung, eaten raw or lightly cooked. Like many legumes, I am a high-energy food source, but if large quantities are consumed, I’ll cause flatulence. I’ll add vitamins A and C, iron, niacin and fiber to your diet. Some of my varieties are even resistant to powdery mildew disease. The child of two cultures, I’m unique, but sometimes suffer an identity crisis with others of my father’s family.

Answer To Last Week’s Quiz…SORREL…Congrats To All Winners
Call 908-789-4700 –Lisa, Mark or Richard– Fax 908-789-4702
Visit us at www.culinaryproduce.com
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Culinary Specialty Produce, Inc., 2015