Market Notes
November 2, 2017
TRANSITION
Next week is the last week of loading in the Salinas Valley for many of our baby green growers. Current operations will shut down mid-week as preparations for the southern exposure begin. All orders for loading next week need to be received no later than Monday 11-6-2017. Northern loading from pre-orders will end Friday 11-10-2017 and will commence Monday 11-13-2017 in Yuma (otherwise known as hell day). Once the known chaos has past the good news is the southern fields are ready for harvesting and early reports are very good. Arugula, kale and baby heads should all be in good supply. This speeds up processing and allows for faster loading. With expected rain this weekend in the Salinas Valley the timing is just about perfect. Hopefully the anticipated storm will be brief and harmless lest we suffer one more week.
HOLIDAY LOGISTICS
Halloween is over so it’s Christmas. The holiday season is upon us and early evidence is clearly being made in transportation. Air transportation has significantly tightened up and same day cross country booking are becoming rare. While local transportation up and down the coasts remains steady, trucks are filling up faster. Over the road transportation is going to be tight from coast to coast as well as points in between. Prices are already up from California and Colorado to points east and when tree time comes it will drop by another third. Indications are pointing to a very very busy holiday season and we are making a list and checking it twice. We recommend you stay ahead and do the same. HO-F*****G- HO!
OFF SHORE AND NOT MUCH MORE
Baby carrots, the most steady of all our baby vegetable imports, are very short. Some bad weather, rough plantings, and unusually high demand created a perfect storm. This shortage will be at least two weeks and could well interfere with the holiday pull. Asparagus remain steady, snow peas and snap peas remain expensive and French beans are cheap. Baby squash are both available and affordable in all flavors. Rainbow carrots in the same boat as the orange, blueberries high, blackberries low. Baby heads easy with notice, mangoes and papayas prime.
NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – – WHAT AM I??
They call the tree upon which I am born “The Wall Tree”. Depending on who you ask I have between 200 and 400 varieties. I was first documented in Chinese literature by the great philosopher Confucius around 479 BCE. It wasn’t until 140 BCE that I, the Chinese Fruit, was brought to Rome by the great Chinese emissary Jan Qian. The Chinese consider me the fruit of life, and my blossoms are worn around a young bride’s neck to symbolize virginity and fertility. Before arriving in Europe and later America (in the year 1515) I spent quite a bit of time in Persia where I acquired several new qualities. I added another possible color for my flesh, and developed the ability to grow larger. When I arrived in Rome I was called the “Persian Apple”. Pliny complained that I has more juice than flavor and he had to keep changing his toga. But some claim I am the ambrosia for the gods. With a frim but delicately juicy flesh, I used to be quite a delicacy, and very difficult to come by. Today I am one of the most popular fruits on the planet. In the month of July we are singularly responsible for one-third of all fruit consumption in the USA. Best eaten fresh, I can also be canned, dried, pureed or juiced. My sweetness tends to keep me in the dessert category but I am great alone as a snack, spread as a jam on your favorite breakfast bread, or used in chutneys. I have the highest vitamin count of all fruit especially high in vitamin A & C
Answer To Last Week’s Quiz…GARLIC…Congrats To All Winners
Call 908-789-4700 –Lisa or Richard– Fax 908-789-4702
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Culinary Specialty Produce, Inc., 2015