Market Notes
April 28th, 2022
FINGERLING FAILURE
We saw it coming but could not stop it. We told you this might happen. We told you when it might happen and how long it would happen for. Now it has happened and it sucks. We hate to report it but we will not have any potatoes for east coast distribution next week. That is the worst of the news, now for the good stuff. We are digging new crop fingerlings today! The bins that come in from the field still need a few days in the cooler to confirm the heat is completely out of them so they don’t melt. We will start to pack on Monday and we hope to ship our first load of new crop east on Tuesday. For LA Market deliveries and FOB customers, we did not miss a beat. But, even with a team it is four days from central California to our forward distribution facility in Pennsylvania. Like cool down and pack time, there are simply no shortcuts. By Mother’s Day we should have new crop in stock and that put us over the shortage hump…..until early July. We will have lots of other options by then, so we are, for the first time in a while, not worried. We do apologize for the gap to our east coast customers, but as you know we did all we could and turned a potential three-month gap into a one-week gap. Interruption of service still sucks no matter what we say, we know that. So, take a week to scream at us but don’t forget to place orders for the following week. Thank you for your continued support.
DANISH MOREL PROJECT
This is a very cool thing. Cultivating wild things has always been a human obsession. If it’s outdoors we must always be a way to simulate that growth indoors. Morel mushrooms have eluded cultivators for decades. Foragers and biologists have spent thousands of hours in test and trials of indoor morel mushrooms cultivation, with little success. Domestic attempts have produced a very pretty product that was quite expensive, had low yield, and there was not a discernable taste between the cultivated mushroom and cardboard. But they were very pretty and clean. Now, two brothers from Copenhagen claim to have developed a cultivation system where they can grow morel mushrooms at the same rate they grow white button mushrooms. Twenty pounds per square yard in 22 weeks is their documented yield and they have many different varieties as well, even black burn morels. If they pass the terpene test this will be a game changer. The joys of a day in the woods, gently sorting through the “carpet” of the forest floor and cutting your own fresh morels. But if the Kirk brothers get it in gear, there will eventually be a less expensive, more available option. Fresh morels for all! We’ll keep you informed.
NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – WHO AM I ???
I’m originally from the Andes (but I’m not a fingerling potato). I hitched to New Zealand from South America and they gave me my marketing name in the ‘60’s (but I’m not a Kiwi or Feijoa). I can be whatever you want: I’m a bitter fruit or a sweet vegetable; I smell like an apricot or a tomato; I’ve the consistency of a firm plum or soft eggplant. And want me you will, with my elegant stem, my satin skin in deep purple, red, orange or yellow, my lush deep blush flesh with purple whorls and edible seeds. If you take me home, treat me to a boiling bath for a few minutes, so I can easily slip out of my skin, cradle me like an egg, and be careful when cutting me fresh, I’ll leave stains for sure. You’ll need to peel me and I’m quite bitter about it, and you’ll probably prefer to cook me, since few like my fresh attitude. I’m best heavily dosed with sugar or citrus and add intrigue to compotes and chutneys, salsas, relishes, sweet and savory sauces. I must tell you that I’m low in calories (around 19 a piece) with vitamins A&C, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, and magnesium. Would you know me if I tell you that I’m on a subtropical shrub grown as a houseplant for years?
Answer to last quiz….LAVENDER…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