Market Notes
April 20th, 2023
TRANSITION COMPLETION
Okay, we were wrong. While there is some delay in row crops and the California potato crop is about a month behind, the baby greens transition was smooth. A little allocation on a few items for one week and then full steam ahead. Product is looking great, travelling well and basically suffered no interruption. Thank you, growers, and thank you Mother Nature. We apologize for the scare, and we are happy we were wrong.
OH, BABY BABY IT’S A WILD WORLD
The fresh ramps arrive daily but the volume has slowed. As the bloom reaches peak, pickers burn-out, price drops and picker interest is lost. Common laws of labor supply and demand apply with a bit of the pandemic blues added in. Orders over seventy-five pounds may take a day or two but under that should be fine for daily shipping. Based on the severe weather we see approaching the mid-west, fields of plenty can disappear overnight. Western fiddleheads, miner’s lettuce, and nettles remain on the forage menu, and this week we add domestic morel mushrooms and summer truffles from Italy. Chanterelles and eastern fiddlehead ferns are on the horizon. Please check in for delivered prices.
FINGERLING FUTURES
We have been very lucky this year. From the forgotten fingerlings when restaurants and foodservice got masked, followed by a year of low yield and closures, we have upped our game and are pleased to report that there will be no interruption of service to the amazing loyal customers who have supported us for the last thirty years. Our business has almost tripled, and we have not taken on any new customers. Do that math! Here’s how our program hopes to roll for the next several months. We will wind down our pacific northwest program by the end of May as we start with new crop from central California. This source will carry us exclusively until mid-July when we will begin production once again in Colorado with product from New Mexico. These two suppliers will carry us through September when our California grower finishes as our pacific northwest grower kicks in. Then we have Colorado and Oregon through May, and the seasons go round and round. We can’t thank you enough for your support and we remain committed to supplying top quality, consistent supply, and service practiced as art.
NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – WHO AM I ???
I first gained fame in 1850 when I helped save Brussels from famine. My common name comes from a relative’s Latin surname and we both share a Latin first name. Members of the Composite family, our names have been interchanged through the years, but only I have a Flemish name and have been called white gold. I am an herb and it is my complex cultivated form that is a delicacy — they cut off my head, hide me in the dark, and wait for my second growth. Usually a slender blonde, I’m 4-8 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. Enjoy my mild bittersweet taste fresh in salads or stuffed. Braised or gratinéed, I am excellent just with butter or in recipes with cured meats. When crossed with Radicchio, I’m red-tipped and milder, but will lose my flavor if cooked. My roots are a substitute for coffee, but commonly go by that other name. I stimulate the appetite, cleanse the intestines, aid digestion, and contain folic acid, potassium, and vitamin C. During the 1988 Iowa caucus, presidential hopeful Michael Dukakis was derided for suggesting me as an alternative crop for American farmers.
The answer to last weeks quiz was….SWEET POTATO… 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