Good Grief!

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

• Bad news all around, except for
• Cranberries and apples
• Try the new apple diet—move over Atkins.
• Pre-packaged salads are a sign of the times, but the old way is better [Ken says that, not me–I’m all about pre-packaged baby spinach; I am lazy].

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!
So, what is new? If you have been paying attention to the news, my answer is not much.

• The tomato markets are crazy now. If you want a tomato for your salads, you have been paying the price for it. Expect the conditions to exist for the next two months.
• Also hot are peppers, green beans, green and yellow zucchini, and cucumber.
• It looks like the prices of iceberg, romaine, and green and red leaf lettuce will continue to remain high for the near future. Lighter volume as well as sub-par yields are forcing processors of packaged salads to buy more acreage to maintain the supply demand. This additional need is taking raw product away from the wholesale and retail market and driving up lettuce prices on the open market. This is an interesting phenomena. Years ago, when we wanted a fresh salad, we purchased the ingredients, took them home, prepared the mixture and placed it on our dinner table. Enter the modern world. Too busy to make dinner? No problem, I will package salad for you. In the food business, we call it value-added or home meal replacements. I still like the old fashioned way.
• Broccoli prices have settled a bit but remain very expensive. It’s becoming more apparent that shippers have planted fewer late-season acres. Cauliflower prices are this very reasonable and will remain so well into early next week. Overall quality of both items is excellent.
• The current California Valencia orange crop is essentially finished. Shipments arriving from California have no life; they are scarred and soft. The California Navel crop will not begin for another two weeks or so. Growers of California Navels are expecting to have a much larger crop than last year. Expect to see larger sizes—not good news if you put oranges in your children’s lunch boxes.
• News from the California lemon world is telling us that the desert lemon harvest will be 40 percent lighter than last year. Expect higher prices in the immediate future.
• Cantaloupes have taken a turn for the green and have lost the summer flavor. What was once a wonderful fruit is now a gamble on quality.
• Honeydews are still in good taste if you purchase the premium labels. I have had great luck this season with the King of the West label.
• The Thompson white grape prices are going up and up. This year’s harvest has been tight all summer, and suppliers have had no problems selling the short supply, causing the higher prices. Shippers have converted from 19-pound to 16-pound boxes, and you know what happens. Economics 101. Supply and demand.
• Ruby Reds and Red Crimsons are the primary red seedless grapes in California. There has been a larger amount of supply. However, with the pricing of the white grapes going up, the reds have been following.

So enough on the bad news. And it seems that is all it has been for the past weeks.

• Cranberry shipments began last week. The first of the season arrivals should have especially good color due to cool weather as the summer ended.
• Reports out from the Washington State apple region! Great harvest! Have you heard about the new and latest diet? It seems that if you eat three apples a day and limit your fat content, you can lose weight. Sounds more fun than eating tons of meat!

Have a fruitful week!