Good Grief!

Thanks to Ken Klein for another edition of the Market Report. The summary:

• Those of you into slime and nastiness might be interested to know that there are major tomato problems.
• Get your red peppers before the price goes up.
• Clementines will be arriving in a few weeks.
• New York might try to steal all the good produce!

Read on…

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

Greeting Food Lovers!

The weather has been the number one issue these past weeks, and now the grim reaper is arriving with the news. The effects of the recent storms on the East and West coasts of the United States will be with us for the next two months.

The tomato market is extremely tight. Last week we saw the prices almost double. Shippers are saying that prices will continue to increase and stay high for weeks and weeks to come. Florida, as we all know, was hurt last month with hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Ivan. The state had quite a bit of rain, but most shippers figured they would be in decent shape. Jeanne, however, wiped out all the fields in two areas, which in the long run will cause extreme shortages. Another region in Florida, Quincy, would have been starting tomatoes within a week or so, but they were hit hard by Jeanne’s winds. For almost eighteen hours, Quincy sustained winds of over 60 mph. The winds destroyed blooms and fruit on the plant. Look for “extreme prices in October and November,” my supplier informed me.

California is also in a tight tomato situation. Northern California was hit earlier last week with about two inches of rain; when these northern fields receive even small amounts of rain, you can usually figure on cutting your current yield in half. These tomatoes don’t deal well with rain. Some shippers will even cut off the East coast because of the distance and the products reduced lasting power.

This time of the year, with the rotation and transition of the tomato growing regions, we usually can count on Mexico to fill the gaps. Not this time! They are having their own problems.

A word of note. Since we will be living with weather-related shortages for the winter growing season, I see a bidding war ahead. If the New York market needs product and is willing to pay more for a tight item, then off it goes!

Produce Report

• Green and yellow squash, cucumbers, and green peppers all have soared due to the hurricanes. At this time of the season, harvesting should be in full swing as transition begins to the southern growing areas. The northern states will soon finish up their harvests. All of these crops will be in tight supply and very expensive. Green peppers are now coming from California to help full the limited supply of eastern-grown peppers. Markets for California product have soared as demand continues to be stronger than supply.
• Red peppers are a great buy at the moment. Enjoy now and expect to pay much more in the weeks to come.
• Iceberg lettuce is going up. Many growers will not be harvesting for several days in another effort to drive the price up. The end result will give us larger heads.
• Strawberries from California are getting better in quality and size. We might be lucky and find the prices going down in a week or so.
• Bananas—remember them? When the summer fruit ends, demand for the banana increases. Hurricane-related rough seas these past weeks have caused delays. Shippers are trying to increase prices. So far no success.
• Cantaloupe and honeydews have gone up in price. The quality is not as good as it was several weeks ago. Shippers are getting started in the California desert and in Arizona.
• Grapes are getting more expensive as the amount of good, solid white grapes is limited. This has an effect on the red seedless grapes too.
• Clementines are almost here! The first containers of Spanish fruit should arrive in three weeks. The real volume will hit during the first week of November.
• California citrus is winding down. Valencia orange quality is just fair. Don’t be surprised if a good looking fruit turns out to be dry and tasteless. Grapefruit at the moment is just OK, but with the disaster in Florida, we get what we can get.
• Florida citrus: it will be several more weeks to have an understanding of what will be coming and when.

Have a fruitful week!