Good Grief!

Time for Ken Klein’s Market Report! It’s a drama-filled edition:

• The Iceberg lettuce growers are up to some tricks.
• California strawberries are less sucky.
• Idaho potatoes are here.
• Watch out for grapes and cantaloupes.

Click below to read the entire article.

The Market Report, by Ken Klein
Klein’s Supermarket, 2401 Pennsylvania Avenue, Philadelphia
Our Hours: M-F 8 AM to 8 PM; Sat. 8 AM to 8 PM; Sunday 9 AM to 1 PM

Greetings Food Lovers,

Reality is setting for us all—it’s going to be an interesting year. We are beginning to see price increases on all fruit and veggies. Things are getting hot, and supply shortages are creating problems. In addition to the rain down south, wind has created scarring, so don’t look for pretty things anytime soon.

• Yellow squash will be extremely hard, if not impossible, to find this week. Michigan, Ohio, and New York are on the down side of the season.
• Cucumbers from New York are in excellent supply and quality at the moment. The market prices have gone up as their season winds down, and the new fall crops from the south are hurting due to the hurricanes coming up through Florida.
• The tomato market is starting to react to the bad weather in Florida. Major areas of tomato products have been hugely affected by the hurricanes—most growers have some loss, in some cases exceeding 40-50%. Growers are replanting, but the crops will arrive later than usual. Expect gaps and shortages on some products.
• Broccoli from California continues to be outrageously high! There are shorter supplies and a strong demand. The quality is great; the price is not!
• Iceberg lettuce prices are going up this week. Many growers will not be harvesting this week in an effort to fuel higher prices. We should see larger heads in the next week or so due to a few more days of growing.
• On the good news front, Idaho potatoes will be arriving this week.
• The strawberry situation out in California is improving. Several new growing areas are producing, harvesting, and shipping product. The quality is reported to be improving from the last weeks of pure garbage.
• The best berries out now are raspberries. Look of the Driscoll label.
• Florida has begun shipping the first tangerines; next week will see Amber sweet and Navel oranges. Any attempt to report on the quality would be a mistake. Time will tell what we have!
• Cantaloupes are in the transition period. The quality has changed to the 50% rule. Remember that? Your chance of getting the perfect cantaloupe is 50%! The demand far exceeds the supply, and prices have jumped.
• Honeydews are still a great buy. If you are patient and get the perfect waxy feeling on the outer skin of the dew, you will be in for a real treat.
• Grapes…. look out! The market continues to get stronger, and the supply is shrinking on the Thompson green . The best quality now arrives in a 16 pound box, as opposed to the previous 18 pound box. Prices will be high, but every year at this time, we retailers have to make a decision. If we want to provide our customers with the best product, we have to pay for it. As a result, the red seedless grapes follow the surge in pricing. There has been a nice supply of black seedless grapes and those huge red globe seeded grapes.
• California Sunkist oranges and grapefruit are increasing as the season rapidly ends in a few weeks.

Have a fruitful week, if you can find what you want!