Week of January 25, 2016
VegiViews
The Super Bowl will take place on Feb. 7th. The southbound Embarcardero through out the Moscone Center area,
will be shut down from Jan. 23rd to Feb. 12th. Expects heavy traffic and big crowds which will cause massive
delivery delays due to many street closures. Please note that we will not be offering any second run deliveries
during this time. PLEASE BE MINDFUL AND PRE-ORDER AHEAD IF POSSIBLE.
Weather continues to be mild in the desert. California continues to receive consecutive El
Niño-charged rain storms.
Coming Soon:
Local California Avocado
Fresh Fava Beans Sugar Cane
Available Now:
Sumo Mandarin 18-lb case only.
Organic Green Garlic
Organic Red Spring Onions
Organic German Butterball Potato
Paige Mandarins
Seville Orange
Escarole Hearts
Bergamot Orange
Castelfranco Radicchio
Red & Green Grapes - Peru
Blood Oranges
Cara Cara Pink Navel
Cocktail Grapefruit
Buddha’s Hand Citron
Kumquats
Organic English Peas
Calamondin
Pummelo
Sunchokes/Jerusalem Artichokes
Punterella (Chicory)
Organic Stinging Nettles
Chioggia Beets
Hawaiian Pineapple
Japanese Cucumber
Organic Celery
Yellow Squash
Organic Radicchio
Bloomsdale Spinach
Fresh Mint
Organic Eryngii Mushroom
Escarole
Delicata Squash
Satsuma Mandarins
Fresh Chestnut
Seckel Pears
Lady Apples
Fresh Cranberries
Frog Hollow Warren Pears
Fresh Cranberries
Fuyu Persimmons
Org. Red Kuri Squash
Fresh Huckleberries
White Grape Fruit
Pink / Seedless Lemons
Cardoon
Fingerling Sweet Potatoes “YAM”
Purple Ninja Radish
Cherry Belle Radish
Local Organic Baby Mixed Chicory
This case is a mix of Castel Franco, Radicchio Grumolo, Radicchio Tardivo, Treviso Varigata, Red
Endive, and Green Treviso. Each variety is its own play on the black pepper, earthy, and bitter flavors
that are the calling card of winter chicories.
These chicories work well in a seasonal salad with late Winter fruits like pear, apple, pomegranate
and seasonal citrus. Infused vinegars and warm fatty dressings also play well here. They also shine
in a braise or a flash grill application, their bitter nature playing well off of rich and succulent fats.
Pg.2
What’s
VEGETABLES
ASPARAGUS - Demand remains strong from lack of
production from Mexico, but will be improving as temperature
warm up. Expect less volume from Peru moving forward. Quality
is fair to good, be aware of seeding.
On?
FRUITS
AVOCADO -
CA is starting to harvest lightly through
February and increase in March. Winter and spring rains will help
size fruit that is on the tree.
GREEN BEANS - Occasional water damage noted. While
CUCUMBERS - Supplies are very light. Offshore supplies
quality remains good, supply is limited.
remain light with fair to good quality. Port delays due to security.
PEAS - SNOW /SNAPS - Guatemalan quality is very
good; supplies could get tight soon due to Peru's season finishing
up.
CABBAGE / BOK CHOY - Markets are active and
supplies are limited until the end of January.
Brussels Sprouts: Product is moving to production out of Mexico.
BROCCOLI-
Quality is fair to good with improving
availability. Broccolini is in very short supply at the moment.
CAULIFLOWER- Supplies are much better and the
market is correcting itself. The quality is still fair at best with
yellow discoloration in some lots. Some arrivals have been
showing up with black to brown spotting. Colored cauliflower is
in still in very short supply.
HERBS - Chives: Demand exceeds supply due to various
weather patterns in each growing area. Cilantro: Active market
with short supply and high prices; weather has affected growth
cycle. Curly Parsley: Active market with high demand and limited
supply with prorates; product is not holding up. Italian parsley is
following close behind.
CITRUS - Lemons: Quality is excellent. Limes: Lime quality
is fair to good. Navel oranges: Navel orange quality is very good
to excellent, and should be in good shape to ship anywhere in the
country. There are no issues with size structure as there is
good availability on all sizes.
AVAILABLE NOW: Blood Oranges, Cara Cara Navels, Paige
Mandarin, Cocktail Grapefruits, Calamondin, Kumquats, Meyer
lemons, Pummelo, Bergamot Orange, Seville Orange, Sumo
Citrus.
STRAWBERRY-
All three main growing regions have
seen recent rain and cold weather reducing supplies to critical
levels. Expect to see white shoulders, smaller sizing, and pin rot.
We anticipate volume will continue to be very low through the
Valentine’s Day holiday.
Berries - Black, Blue & Raspberry -
are being driven by the lack of volume out West. Possible quality
issues with cracks.
Blueberries:
Quality remains good overall, and availability is improving.
Blackberries & Raspberries: Some quality challenges due to rains
in central Mexico; supply remains
challenging.
ONIONS - Some internal issues and occasional surface mold
MELONS - Cantaloupe quality is much better due to the new
PEPPERS - CHILES - Demand exceeds supply. Markets
ALERT! presence reported. Expects price to increase this week.
Green Onions, market is active and high price expected in the
$50.00++ range. Rain, freeze, wind, and labor concerns are all
contributing factors.
LETTUCE ROMAINE / ICEBERG / LEAF -
crop from Honduras versus the old crop in Guatemala. Honeydew
supplies are very tight, and quality varies. Most are from
Guatemala and Mexico. New crop from Honduras should be
available next week. Watermelon market remains strong. Mexican
production is off due to cold temps and rains.
Iceberg: Availability and quality have improved, with weights
varying significantly. Leaf: Cold December month has yielded
fair to good quality, seeing blister damage, cupping, and insect
damage. Romaine: Quality is poor overall due to excessive blister
damage, and shape/sizing issues.
GRAPES - The red seedless grape market is demand exceeds
SQUASH - Squash remains extremely tight, especially yellow.
APPLES & PEARS - Market is active with strong
Demand drastically exceeds supply, and quality is fair at best.
Expects to see plenty of scarring, mainly on yellow. Better
supplies and quality expected sometime by mid-Feb if temperature
warm up.
TOMATOES - The round market is short in supply. Quality is
fair to good, larger fruit is still extremely scarce. Roma: Supply is
easing and markets are returning to normalized levels. Quality is
getting better. Grape/Cherry: Markets are beginning to fall
slightly. Quality is good.
CELERY - Fair quality overall, poor weather causing undersizing, discoloration, with pith and seeder also reported.
supply - limited volume and late vessel arrivals from Chile. MidFebruary is when market will be more stable. Green grape market
is demand exceeds supply situation. Market will remain
unchanged until the second week of February.
demand. The quality for all varieties has been good.
Available now: Red delicious, Golden delicious, Granny Smith,
Gala, Fuji, Honeycrips, Pink Lady, Jonagold.
Available now: Asian, Barlett, Bosc, Forelle, Red D’Anjou,
Green D’Anjou
CARROTS - Cold weather and rain are hampering carrots out
of Bakersfield, sizing and quality are fair. The market is rising.
BELL PEPPERS - Cool temps are limiting production,
demand exceeds supply. Quality is fair to good, with some
bruising, scarring, and stem decay on arrivals. Expect supplies to
improve by mid Feb with new fields/better weather.
Information is subject to daily weather and market fluctuations and is meant to be used as a guide.
Pg.3
Available now!
What’s New?
BLACK GARLIC
FRESH ORGINS
Valentine’s Day Weekend is a few weeks away and many of you have already begun to
promote your special menus.
Please remember to pre-order your Micro Greens and Edible Flowers 3 days in
advance to secure products.