Week of 9/3/10 to 9/10/10

PRIMO'S PICK OF THE WEEK !!!
This week Primo is featuring Fingerling Sweet Potatoes. This is a seasonal promotion we are purchasing again this year. Fingerling Sweet Potatoes are naturally grown much smaller than conventional Sweet Potatoes. They also tend to be elongated and slightly knobby, making them very finger-like in shape. The unusual looking, flavorful Sweet Potatoes can be used just like regular Sweet Potatoes in an assortment of roasted, broiled, baked, grilled, or boiled dishes.
They are convenient because of their unique shape and size, Fingerling Sweet Potatoes cook faster than traditional Sweet Potatoes. Most recipes that call for Sweet Potatoes can be substituted for fingerlings and cut down your cooking time.
They are flavorful because they bring out the best flavor by baking, boiling, or steaming them. Fingerling Yams contain a rich, sweet, and nutty flavor that is wonderfully smooth and creamy yet maintains a firm texture when cooked.
Lastly, they are versatile. Make your favorite meals complete with Fingerling Sweet Potatoes by serving them with steak, fish, chicken or salads.

Recipe of the week
Orange-Glazed
Fingerling Sweet
Potatoes
Ingredients
1 lb. fingerling sweet potatoes
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tbs. butter
1/2 tsp. grated orange peel
1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
parsley for garnish
Directions
Bake/roast fingerling sweet
potatoes until tender.
Meanwhile, in a small skillet,
bring the orange juice, butter,
orange peel and pumpkin pie
spice to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 3-4 minutes or until thickened.
Pour glaze over fingerling sweet potatoes and mix gently to coat. Yield: 3 servings.

FUN FACTS OF THE WEEK
Sweet potatoes have been around since prehistoric times. Some scientists believe that dinosaurs might have eaten these delicious vegetables.

George Washington was our first president, but did you know he was also a sweet potato farmer? He grew them on his farmland at Mount Vernon, Virginia.

MARKET OVERVIEW
California Central Coast row crop shippers are seeing light to moderate demand on most key items.

The availability of trucks on the West Coast is improving, and freight rates are expensive for early September.

ICEBERG LETTUCE
This market is starting to show signs of weakness. Suppliers are trying to hold on to a mid-teen dollar market that may not have any support towards the end of the week. Demand will be the obvious factor. Retail ads are out and foodservice demand is uncertain at this point. The previous high heat in the growing regions has caused unusual growth patterns. The weights are reported to be between 39-45 lbs. on palletized. Mildew, tip burn, some decay has been seen and this will cause lighter weights as the shippers must trim back quality defects to get it within grade. An option for some areas may be New Jersey, which has light supplies.

ROMAINE & LEAF
Romaine is stable. Production is expected to be increased in the middle of the week, and this may inspire some deals on volume orders to be available. Romaine hearts have also improved in better availability this week compared to previous weeks. Green leaf will be lighter in supplies with red leaf holding its own. The past high heats in the growing regions may have an adverse affect on quality upon arrivals, as this waits to be seen.

CAULIFLOWER & BROCCOLI
The broccoli market is stronger on bunched product as well as crowns. Availability is lighter then last week production, but demand will determine how far this market will climb. With Labor Day approaching, demand may be light. Mexico supplies will be moderate to good throughout the week. The quality is expected to be strong throughout the week in all of the growing areas. In the east, Maine is harvesting in steady supplies .

The cauliflower market has gained strength to start the week as most suppliers have caught up with excess product inventories. There are ample supplies in Santa Maria and Salinas to fill contract orders, but there isn’t much left over for open business. Expect the pricing to be competitive with most suppliers. As usual with this commodity, some suppliers will be better in availability than others. The best availability continues to be in twelve counts.

CARROTS
Carrots are sourced in California, Michigan, and Canada growing regions. Quality and availability from all areas are excellent.

CELERY
This market has started the week stronger. The smaller sizes continue to be tighter as opposed to the 24 count but overall supplies are lighter. Salinas and Santa Maria continue to be the main growing areas of production. Suppliers are expecting production numbers to be lighter but with the upcoming holiday, there should be enough product available for all orders to be filled. The weights and quality of celery continue to be strong. Michigan is harvesting steady supplies in the east.

BERRIES
Strawberries:
Last weeks heat took quite a toll on berries. Quality is slowly improving, and the market is steady with moderate supplies. The weather is back to cool and foggy mornings. The Northern strawberry growing
areas will go till the first major rain event hits which is typically some time in October. Only Mother Nature knows when this will happen. The Oxnard fall crop will be the next area to come into play some time in September followed by Mexico in the middle of October. Florida starts up the first part of November.
Raspberries:
We should start to see better quality raspberries by the middle of this week. Weather has been cool over the weekend. Market is still firm with light supplies.
Blackberries:
The heat burned up most of the blackberries that were to be harvested this last week and what they were able to harvest is fair quality at best. Market is active with very limited supplies. Moderate demand and supplies is causing a steady market. Quality is fair mainly due to the cool wet mornings in the growing areas. Watsonville wet cool mornings have the blackberry areas keeping the quality of the fruit is fair to good. Demand is moderate with a steady market. Supplies of eastern grown US blackberries are decreasing sharply. We will have light volume from the higher elevations of NC continuing until mid September. Also Guatemala is set to start up again with imports into Miami.
Blueberries:
Supplies are still very limited out of all areas due to weather in the growing areas and the season coming to a close. Quality is fair with a few good lots. The next area to come into play will be Argentina some time in September. Followed by Chile some time in November light supplies and moderate to good demand is causing a firm market this week. Weather has been taking toll on harvest and quality in the blueberry growing regions. Look for quality to go down hill. Supplies are coming out of Oregon, BC and Michigan. This is mainly due to the season starting to wind down. Up coming blueberries supplies could be very limited due to a freeze in Argentina last month.


POTATOES
New crop potatoes are starting to come out from Idaho, Colorado, Washington, Kansas, and Nebraska to name a few. For the next few weeks we may see opportunities with old crop potatoes and new crop. Strong demand on all sizes has the Idaho potato market on the rise. Number-twos are also up. California continues packing new crop Norkotahs and is heaviest to 70/80’s. New crop prices remain steady along with demand. California also continues to pack colored potatoes but the demand has been very strong so stay ahead! Stockton will have supplies through September. North Carolina, Virginia, and Alabama have reds, a few golds, and some round whites but the temperatures have been so hot that they aren’t holding up very well after harvest so it’s pushing a lot of business to California increasing likelihood of undersized russets at least in the early stages of the new crop.

ONIONS
California continues packing all colors of onions but is finishing up with lighter numbers this week. Light demand is keeping the market steady. California sizing is large on the yellows and average on whites and reds. New Mexico is almost finished. Colorado continues packing yellows and reds and has average size in both colors. Their market is slightly lower on both colors. Washington and Idaho/Oregon continue packing light supplies of all colors. Most shippers have small yellows but some have decent size. The northwest prices are down slightly on all colors due to light demand and more shippers getting in. Canada continues packing yellows and reds as well and they are mostly small.

APPLES & PEARS
Washington fruit is still mostly large and heavy to the higher grades in the reds, golds, and granny-smith varieties. The smaller counts and lower grades are still in short supply in all varieties and will remain so for the rest of the storage season. The markets on all three varieties are mostly steady but deals remain on 48, 56, and 64 size fruit. Gala’s and Fuji’s are the only two varietals left and the Galas are very limited. Cameos, Jonagolds, Honeycrisp, Braeburns, Pink Lady’s, and Romes are all finished. D’Anjou pear supplies are lighter again and the market is higher and strong as we near the end of the season.

AVOCADOS
MEXICO- Growers have very little fruit to cross into the states as their season is at the end. The latest update on the beginning of their off bloom season is early August.
CALIFORNIA – The California harvest is still peaking on 48’s, with supplies of smaller sizes light. Growers are still slowing harvest to spread fruit supplies out through September when export fruit volumes are expected.

CITRUS
WEST
Market steady to stronger as some packers are finishing for the season. The overall quality is fair with fruit showing the signs of its age. You will see some exterior scarring some stem end aging and also softer fruit with a tinge of green as we are having to gas the fruit to help bring on color due to re-greening, one excellent quality is flavor and juice which are excellent right now. The fruit is about 17 months old as it bloomed in March of 2009 and has endured all the weather changes and also the tree is taking care of next years crop consequently the fruit just looks tired. We will have fruit thru October and expect prices to keep getting stronger as more and more packers finish harvesting.
LEMONS
Market is steady and strong as movement has been very good. The overall quality is fair coming out of storage we are experiencing clear rot problems and fruit is showing signs of its age as it comes out of storage. The clear rot is very hard to see while packing and will show up within 2-3 days and begin to decay. Fresh Packed fruit will be available by the second week of September. The Chilean lemons have been looking fair to good and the amount of fruit has been less this year due to a freeze and less volume coming to the USA. The Mexico lemons have started, but with the heavy monsoon conditions picking has been very erratic. Expect the market to stay strong and start to soften around mid October as volumes increase.
LIMES:
Supplies this week are down due to the end of old crop. We are transitioning into new crop which is peaking on 200’s and 230’s.

GRAPES
Red seedless Flames, Crimson and Scarlett Royal are all now available. The Flames are still peaking to med/large with the Crimson or Scarlet Royal seedless peaking to large. Ruby red seedless are just starting in a light way with more volume starting next week. Quality is very good on all varietals. Thompson green seedless are available and running to the medium large size, while the Princess Green seedless are nice and large. Summer Royal black seedless and red Globes are also available with good quality.

MELONS
CANTALOUPES:
The market is beginning to strengthen this week as availability is more limited then over the last few weeks. Quality is still very good fruit is starting to size down and peak to 12’s. Mixed melons are winding down and should be cleaned up in the next couple of weeks.
HONEYDEWS:
The west side fruit is still peaking on 5’s with very limited availability on 6’s and smaller. Shippers are sizing up on orders in order to get trucks loaded.
WATERMELON:
Domestic fruit is going strong with very good quality on seedless and marginal quality on seeded product. The local deals are starting to finish up which will bring focus back to the west coast. Production has slowed a bit so look for the market to increase over the next couple of weeks.

CUCUMBERS
Eastern:
Volume has remained steady out of the mid west but the season appears to be finishing up in the more Eastern growing regions. The market should remain steady for the balance of the week. The fair weather in Michigan and Ohio has resulted in excellent quality in the product. Look for Georgia and Mississippi to
start up with cukes in about 7-10 days.
Western:
Western Cucumber:
Baja production is increasing as growers get further into their new acreage.

PEPPERS
Eastern Bells:
Strong demand coupled with good volume and good quality on the East should keep the market steady for several more days. The growing regions of Michigan, the Carolinas and New Jersey will be in good production into the first week of September, barring any weather related issue. By mid September, there should be light volume on pepper out of South Georgia.

SQUASH
Western Squash:
Baja production is beginning to increase in production as they break into new fields. Santa Maria’s weather warmed and increased production is expected.
Eastern Squash:
The squash market should remain steady for the balance of the week as weather in Michigan and Ohio has been decent. Georgia has begun shipping squash but volume will be very light for the first couple of weeks. By mid September we should see considerable volume out of the south.

TOMATOES
Eastern:
Virginia is in full production of rounds, grape and cherry tomatoes. They will be harvesting very few romas until the 2nd week of September. With several days of rain and heat in Virginia this summer, the quality of the crop has been effected. Most of the crop is not grading 85% or better. Virginia is expected to harvest through the month of September. With the cooler weather the fruit will set well on the plant and the quality of the fall tomatoes out of Virginia should improve. Quincy is expected to start around the 1st week of October, with Ruskin following in mid-October. So far things are looking fine. They are watching a few things with the weather. It is hurricane season in Florida and the rainy season. If the temperatures remain warm and daily showers continue, all growers get concerned about diseases developing in the plants. Tennessee is in crown picking this week. Like other summer regional growing areas, the heat has affected the harvest of their crop. They have experienced growing gaps all season and the heat has pushed their crops ahead. They will finish their season earlier than normal this year. Quality reports are good on the fruit out of this area. Tennessee is harvesting rounds, romas, grape and cherry tomatoes.
Western:
California is harvesting both gas green and vine ripe varieties of tomatoes. The production of vine ripe tomatoes will increase in the next couple of weeks and will continue until mid-November. Baja will follow the same harvest schedule. Growers in Central California are expected to harvest gas greens and romas through mid-October. The cool temperatures in California have helped with extending their season along with improving quality. The mild temperatures however have effected the yields of the crop. Most shippers are experiencing yields of only 50%-60%. The plants need to grow under several days of 90 degree weather for them to make a full crop.