Market Notes June 24th, 2021

MOREL MADNESS PLUS

It is just going to be a lousy morel mushroom season. We have tried to predict a bright future where the volume would increase so significantly the price would be down to the low teens, and we would all gobble them up. Nope. We were wrong, we admit it. With the late start and early finish, there is not enough time left. The conica are all but gone and it will be two weeks before the gray begins.  This has also affected the dried morel market in a big way. Prices, which have already doubled, continue to climb and it is likely domestic supply will diminish before the new crop forage.  Porcini mushrooms are the same way. Hot when it should be cold and cold when it should be hot resulting in low yield and poor quality.  Good news is imported Chanterelles and Bluefoot mushrooms that are available in volume. There is one more week of fresh ramp bulbs before they get frozen.

JULY 2^ND,3^RD, 4^TH, & 5^TH

    Okay, so the holiday is on Sunday, how perfect is that? A day to prepare, a day to celebrate, and then back to work on Monday.  American productivity at its best. But no, we cannot have a holiday unless we have a day off work, regardless of the date.  If the date itself no longer matters, the options grow wider.  Do we close Saturday, but we are closed on Saturday, so do we have to close Friday? What about Monday? A lot of businesses (Fed-Ex, UPS) are closed on Monday. Who celebrates a holiday after it has occurred? Maybe we should be closed Friday and Monday to be politically correct.  Maybe we close early on Friday, open for two hours on Saturday and one hour on Monday. While thousands of businesses ponder the questions above, Culinary stands ready. We will handle your calls all day any day.  Not a voice message, not an answering service, but a knowledgeable employee that will answer your questions, and exceed your expectations.  Celebrate when you like, reflect on the meaning, rejoice in America, we’ll be here.

KEEP ON TRUCKIN’ & KEEP ON PAYIN’

While the stars and strips wave, truck rates are putting us in the grave.  Rates are going up in almost every lane.  Over the road is in the mid-teens, Midwest in either direction is up 20%, coastal loads are on the rise and finding a ride at a reasonable rate is now considered lucky.  Drivers are scarce and appear to be in the “I don’t have to work while the government pays me”, state of mind. So, the few options that remain are going to do it the American way…by making us pay.  Go on, tell us it’s fuel cost, make our day.

 NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – WHO AM I ???

    We’ve been raised hard, not soft. From years on the ground our skin has grown tough, not thin. You have one narrow window of opportunity to eat us, but you’ll be robbing the cradle. Some desperate folks steal our unripe, 3 to 4-inch children. Can you imagine! Our roots are thick, tough and ancient. People in Africa call some of us “woo lo gwa”. Our exact origins are a mystery. It’s a toss-up between Africa and South America, or perhaps we were old enough to have originated on Pangaea. Either way our seeds arrived from one continent to the other via ocean currents. We were cultivated in North America over 8,000 years ago and in South America/Africa over 12,000 years ago. But today we can be found growing all over the world, some of us in trees but most of us on vines. We are fruits believe it or not, and we produce flowers that are white. We come in all sizes, shapes and colors, with lumps, bumps, knobs, protrusions, warts, and grooves. With all these complexion problems we are still admired for our beauty, or perhaps our extreme ugliness. We have so many shapes that we have developed numerous functional uses.  For soup, we can be the soup, the ladle, the bowl or all three. Some of us are shaped like basketballs, but we don’t bounce, so don’t try.  Others of us look like bananas but you can’t bite into them raw, and they don’t peel. Our Canteen cousin is aptly named as it can be used to carry water. Many family members are shaped like a Club, and some are carved into breadbaskets.  We also come in a Nine-Gallon size, my largest form. Some of us are called Apple, but not of your eye. Some of us are called snake, but we won’t slither by.  

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