Produce Market Report for April 29, 2022
Market Alert! Limes!
Limes continue to be in an extremely volatile market. The border issues discussed on last week’s market report continue to persist and limes are very hard hit. The market is very limited, especially on larger lime sizes. Shippers have been us smaller limes in place of larger. 200 ct. and 150 ct. are still available, but limited. 110 ct. are non-existent as of now. The quality is marginal at best and prices are elevated.
Apples: Steady
Asparagus: Up $6-8, larger sizes higher
Avocados: Remain very high
Bananas: Steady
Broccoli: Down $4
Cauliflower: Down $5
Celery: Steady
Corn: Down again. Good supplies
Cucumbers: Remain higher
Grapes: Up $4
Lemons: Steady
Lettuce: Getting active, slightly tighter
Limes: Remain crazy high with supply issues
Melons: Lopes and Dews remain higher
Onions: Remain strong but easing a bit
Peppers: Green coming down some
Potatoes: Steady
Shallots: Stable
Squash: Stabilizing, good value
Strawberries: Steady, good quality
Tomatoes: Up $2
More Market News:
Let’s talk about the produce transition. The Transition happens twice yearly, in late-Spring & late-Fall. As the seasons change & arable fields move geographically, our loading areas move as well, between the 2 major hubs of Yuma & Salinas. When this happens, entire operations pull up roots & relocate: field equipment (tractors, combines, harvesters), processing equipment (choppers, washers, chillers), plant machinery (forklifts, conveyors), vehicles, offices, staffs, and families. Here’s a great video showing the transition of this massive operation.
Many may have heard about the massive fire last week at Taylor Farms’ Salinas facility. Fortunately, they had not yet transitioned into the building. As they were preparing to transition from Yuma to Salinas, a welding incident at the Salinas plant sparked the fire, destroying much of the facility.
As a result, Taylor is now forced to split operations. Their processing equipment is still in place and operational in Yuma. But the product is coming to harvest in fields 10 hours away in Salinas. They are forced to harvest in Salinas, and transfer the product to Yuma for processing. This also forces our trucks to split pickups between Yuma & Salinas, 10 hours apart.
The ripple effect from this disruption has been huge, during an already difficult transition. Delays have spread across other loading docks in the areas, and an already-thin supply of trucks has been stressed further. We’ve seen unprecedented delays at loading docks, both Taylor’s and others.
