Market Notes
March 18th, 2021

  TDE PLUS

We said we would only mention it twice and this is the second time.  TDE packaging begins today. Early reports are the fruit is very sweet, very juicy, and the flavor sublime. TDE’s are being packed in 20# case and this triple cross tangerine will only be available for about four weeks. There is no other citrus fruit we can offer that is superior to the TDE. The slight puff makes for a zipper peel.  There is one seed every hundred fruits. For pastries, juicing, fruit compotes and pies there is simply nothing better. Of course, eating out of hand is potentially addictive. Product is organically grown and packed in Porterville. We can set up FOB there or consolidate for you in LA. We can even combine them with some of the season’s best Cara-Cara oranges (40# full cases), loading out of Dinuba but can also be consolidated in L.A.  If taste matters, you will want these fruits, and so will your customers.  

RAMPS

       It looks like it is going to be a high demand season for fresh ramps. We already have a few pre-orders for the first picking. Because of early demand we are guaranteeing 5# units delivered next day via Fed-Ex. These are the highest priced and most expensive shipping we offer and within days (a week at most) prices will drop as volume increases. Labor will be a factor this year and it might slow down availability. As long as weather cooperates and spring means rain not snow, we hope to offer the first of the first to ship out late next week. If not then, cleaning, packing and shipping operations will commence the following Monday. Please reach out if you want to be on the first, fast and furious pre-order list.  Ramp up, ramp on!  

OFF-SHORE AROUND THE GLOBE

      So, we write about how great our Hawaiian basil program is and immediately get rained out for three days. Fortunately, these rains are usually brief and fields dry quickly.  Moving south the organic Fiji turmeric program is using storage product right now and while it will still juice up perfectly, it doesn’t look quite as pretty as it will come mid-April when new crop ships.  Asparagus from Central America are reasonably priced all sizes are available, from pencil to jumbo.  We even have large white asparagus, but no purple.  Peeled baby carrots and French beans are no longer in the “we’ll pay you to take them” range but are still reasonably prices.  Baby peeled rainbow carrots are they steal this week.  Organic heirloom tomatoes are steady out of Mexico and feijoas from New Zealand begin next week.  

NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – WHO AM I

My family is believed to have originated in India and then spread to Asia sometime between 3,000 to 10,000 years ago, depending on whom you ask. Currently I am grown just about anywhere there is warm weather. I am a member of the cucurbitaceae family, and it is believed that I am closely related to watermelons. The Sanskrit name for my family is soukasa. I have many siblings who are similar to me, but I am one of the old American heirloom varieties. My family members are the ones Leméry of England refers to when he says they “are hard on Digestion, because they continue long in the Stomach” and he only recommends that children who are of “an hot and bilious Constitution” eat them. I am more desirable than my long slender green siblings are because I am younger, sweeter, crisper, and more easily digested. My dimensions are 3 x 2 inches, I have high sugar content, shaped like a lemon, and I turn that color when overripe. I will become very chewy if left on the vine too long. But as a youngster I am sweet and crisp with pale brown flecks, and I have white juicy flesh. Considered to be and mostly used as a vegetable I am actually a fruit. Usually eaten raw, sometimes pickled, and rarely cooked, I make an excellent summer salad vegetable and a beautiful garnish. Although I am 96% water, I am a source of vitamin C, thiamin, and riboflavin.  

The answer to last weeks quiz was…PASSION FRUIT…Congrats to all winners

Call 908-789-4700 –Lisa or Richard– Fax 908-789-4702 Visit us at www.culinaryproduce.com “like” us @ Culinary Specialty Produce on Facebook© Culinary Specialty Produce, Inc., 2020