Time to stock up on Avocados and Great Mango Pricing

Did you know 10% of all the avocados sold in the U.S. are next week – followed closely by the first week of May (Cinco de Mayo)?  How much guacamole can people possibly eat while watching the Super Bowl? There is some carry-over here as well, so you may want to think about stocking up, and early in the week so you have good supply of ready-to-eat product on the shelf. 

We’re in our annual transition on Fairtrade grapefruit from Red Ruby to Star Ruby which arrive late next week.  The Red’s are to die for – and we have an excellent price on 32 counts – beautiful big fruit, priced the same per each as 48’s. 

We’d like to move the Edward mango’s out before Kent’s arrive in 10 days.  Substantial price reductions are in effect.  Kent’s will be more expensive when they arrive.  The pricing continues to rise in Peru as the South American domestic markets are gobbling up in this sellers market. With such limited volumes, mangos are currently shipping at 27% comparing year over year. 

Several growers are sending their blood oranges directly to juice – don’t quite know what happened, but rain seems to have affected quality, so limited supply and high prices will be the rule for now. 

Kate Brooks' D’Anjou pears continue to roar out – the fruit is perfect.

California straws are very tight, but new fields start coming on in the next 10 days. 

Wish we had good news on the vegetable front - supply continues to be limited except when we have production in two areas (Imperial and Salinias).  Those include broccoli, cauli, celery and lettuce.  We just got some pics from new fields along the Mexican border and we should see some relief when they come on with kale, chards, radish, green onion and collards in the next 2 – 3 weeks. 

Another cold air mass has come and gone, with overnight temperatures warming up. 

Local potatoes and Washington onions are all in good supply as well.  We’re seeing a few gaps on squash, so have had to go south.  Prices are steep on Mexican and California squash because the East Coast ran out early after an early frost caught growers by surprise in the fall, with substantial losses.  Of course, it will all ease up later in the spring, when sales of squash plummet.