Fresh From The Farm Market information on produce July 4, 2012

1. Fresh From The FarmMarket information on produceJuly 4, 2012 Seasonal Produce items: Peaches, Nectarines, Plums and Cherries are all in season with good supplies on the market. It’s a great time to put them on the menu! Lettuce Iceberg- The lettuce market continues overall to be steady but suppliers are being reported as light and this will cause prices to increase. We are hearing different reports on quality anything from good to decay, pink ribbing and brown outer leaves, so please check the product. Romaine & Leaf-The leaf market is active on green leaf and romaine. Supplies are expected to be light to moderate throughout the week. Fringe burn is being reported on leaf items so please be aware. This is an issue with many suppliers. A few suppliers are already indicating lower volumes of production on romaine starting next week so please be aware, as prices will be increasing. Green leaf supplies are getting to back to normal and quality is good. Red Leaf supplies are good and quality good, pricing. Butter supplies are good and quality is good. Tomato Western Market - The Central District of California is now into full production. This has put a lot of additional supplies with a good range of sizes in the market place. Their fruit is currently running big so the market continues to be inverted. The Central District is also now packing roma tomatoes. The light harvest of cherry tomatoes in California is providing no relief to the short supplies of cherry tomatoes and the prices remain high. Baja Mexico is harvesting a lot of grape tomatoes at this time.  This flush in supplies has pushed the market price downward for the grape tomatoes. Eastern Market- Quincy will continue to harvest limited supplies of 2nd picking tomatoes through next week as long as the seasonal daily rains stay off of the fruit and the heat does not get the fruit.  The harvest of these crops in Quincy are helping to provide enough small fruit in the country to take pressure off of the previous two weeks of extreme limited supplies.  Once these crops are done, everyone moves north or west for fruit to the summertime growing districts of Virginia, Tennessee and California.  Onions Yellows in New Mexico are still short as many of the shippers there are still in a small gap between the winter-over’s and direct seed. The New Mexico market is strong and limited as many suppliers are not harvesting during the holiday week. California yellows are also steady on jumbos and larger and they are also short of medium yellows. Whites onions and Reds are mostly steady in both states and they have limited numbers of mediums. The quality has been good on all colors. Potato The Idaho market is flat with good supplies available on all sizes. Everyone with old crop is just looking to finish before the newer deals begin. The first new crop russets should begin out of Nebraska by sometime next week. Most shippers are still peaking on 80-count and smaller. Washington is steady but firm with light supplies available. Many Washington shippers have finished packing old-crop. The Colorado market is steady and they are still peaking on 50-80’s. Most Colorado suppliers are trying to conserve their storage product so they don’t run out before new-crop. Bakersfield, California continues to pack russets and they are peaking on 80’s and smaller. The russet quality has been excellent in all areas. Bakersfield is still packing red, gold, and white potatoes and the availability is good for all colors. California is heavier to A-size now but there is no shortage of B’s. www.usfoods.com

2. Fruits Apples & Pears- Almost all varietals will be limited until the fall harvest. Grapes– The transition to the central valley as Mexico and Coachella valley are winding down and should be close to finished by the middle part of next week. The overall quality out of all regions is good except for some lighter color fruit crossing from Mexico on the reds. The green grapes are in very good supply and overall condition and sugar is very good. Expect good supplies and lower prices of fruit out of the valley through November. Avocadoes- Mexican supplies are declining weekly, with decent volume into July. California volume is good; peaking on 60ct. California fruit has good maturity, flavor and oil content. Berries Strawberries- The cool weather in the growing areas this last week and with added demand for the July 4th holiday has tighten up supplies and firmed the market. Quality is still being reported as good out of the Salinas/ Watsonville growing areas with medium size fruit. Raspberries- The market is steady with good quality fruit being harvest currently. Look for Watsonville to have strong volume over the next 1-2 weeks with a peak in mid-July. Blackberries- Prices are currently high because demand exceeds supplies, especially with the holiday. Blueberries-Blueberries are being harvested in California, North Carolina, South Georgia and New Jersey currently. We will see price increase as the northwest finishes harvesting. Vegetables Cucumbers-Supplies are steady out of Michigan and the quality has been excellent. The market is a bit stronger this week with the limited supplies out of the south. Peppers-Green bell market is settling as growers are transitioning from Coachella to Bakers field and other northern districts. Colored bell continue unsettled and prices are increasing as demand exceeds supplies. Squash- Yellow squash has wide range of quality, and demand exceeds supplies but this is slowly improving. Italian squash is steady and production is picking up in the next week or so. Celery- Prices continues to creep upward. Smaller sizing commands a higher price. Broccoli- The broccoli market has been eased considerably since last week on crowns and bunch. Production had been down this moth but supplies have improved and pricing has reacted downward accordingly. Supplies are definitely better on bunched product as well as crowns. Green Onions- Supplies that are coming out of Mexico with most suppliers are good. The quality continues to have a few issues with decay upon arrival. Asparagus- Supplies out of Mexico are on the light to moderate side. Peruvian product will be light throughout the week. Demand continues to exceed supplies. Jumbo is the most difficult size to purchase. Melons Cantaloupes & Honeydews– Market is good and overall quality and condition looks very good. The color on the fruit is much better than you have been seeing out of the desert and Arizona. The interior color out of both regions is very good and sugars are excellent as well. Watermelons- Demand continues to exceed supplies on seedless watermelon. Prices will not decrease until more supplies are on the market and there is good weather. Citrus Oranges- Prices are steady and the overall quality of the fruit is good with some re-greening and also some softness, the interior color, sugar and juice content is excellent. We will be running Valencia’s through October and then start the navels. Lemons- Market strong to steady with good supplies of larger fruit . Overall quality is fair to good with some blocks showing some checkerboard color and some with a tinge of green as well. Limes- Market has stabilized over the last two or so weeks.  Pricing should remain as is for about the next week or so. Quality of the limes has been good over the last few weeks.