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upcoming holidays
• Cinco de Mayo May 5th
• Mother’s Day May 14th
• Memorial Day May 29th -
NEW!
• Kiku Club Apple
• California Betterful Blueberry Pints
• Autumn Bartlett Pear
• Rhubarb
• Tutti Frutti Snow Peas -
Promotable Volume
• Asparagus
• Covilli Fair Trade Purple Brussels Sprouts
• Ichiban Strawberries (MX) -
COMING SOON
• Fava Beans
• Snow Peas
• Cal-O Corn (in a month)
• Cherries (May)
• Cal-O Gold Potatoes (May)
• Cal-O Russets (June)
• Tasteful Selections Honey Gold and Ruby Reds April 30th
• Tasteful Selection Fingerlings May 14th
• Compostable Herb Packaging -
BACK IN STOCK
• Romanesco
• Bunched Spinach (limited)
• Kabocha -
TIGHT INVENTORY
• Broccoli, Baby Sweet Broccoli, Broccoli Crowns
• Cauliflower
• Covilli Brussels Sprouts
• Bunched Spinach -
GAPPING
• Napa Cabbage
• Juicing Celery -
WINDING DOWN
• Golden Bosc (PNW)
• D’ Anjou (PNW)
• Durondeau and Alexander Lucas Pears (Argentina)
• Mandarins
• Covilli Warm Veg -
FINISHED
• Import Grapes
• PNW Gold Potatoes
BUYER’S NOTES
Updated April 23, 2023
FRUIT
Stay tuned for a new look on Earl’s Price List as we move the current classes in the Grocery section into the Fruit and Vegetable sections. Soon the Dates, Dried Fruit, Dried Mushrooms, Dried Chiles, Sun-dried Tomatoes and twist ties & supplies will have a new home.
fruit update
As we transition into more springtime weather, more things are coming alive. Strawberries that were hampered by the cold are in better production out of Baja through May with fruit overlapping out of Watsonville/Salinas. Great opportunity for a value strawberry before we are fully into California. Ask about promotional pricing on Ichiban Strawberries. The first California Blueberry pints of the season are here from Betterful! The delicious Snowchaser variety is grown in the Central Valley. Ask your Earl’s Sales rep about Betterful Blueberry promotional opportunities and download the POS card to highlight your display.
Stone Fruit has had a remarkable number of chill hours this year, over 1000 hours, which is 400 hours more than in the past 20 years! Chill hours allow the trees to get enough sleep and store energy which is crucial to help the trees set fruit and determines the amount of fruit the tree produces. Growers are also looking at an incredible snowpack which helps with water worries. The biggest issue so far this season is that the bees didn’t want to leave the boxes in the cold weather. Apricots and Plums need the pollination; however Peaches and Nectarines do not need to be pollinated. If the warm weather keeps up, we will be in a good spot to start the middle of May with Cherries and Apriums.
As we get closer to stone fruit season stay tuned for Earl’s gorgeous downloadable Stone Fruit calendars. Earl’s sells by the variety!
Avocado Update
Mexican Hass Avocados have a few strong weeks left and then we will fully transition into California fruit. We are just starting to see organic California Hass Avocados on the scene. The season historically has started as early as January/February in San Diego and works its way north as each area of California finishes their harvest and another area begins. This year the persistent cold weather and rain delayed the start of the California season until April. The beginning of the year is when the California Hass Avocado must pass the minimum allowed level of oil content before being picked. The trees are full of fruit and in order to continue to size and produce, the tree needs to be relieved of their burden of fruit to make room for the next more flavorful picking. The cycle of maturation, no matter where avocados are grown in the world, means the early crop will have low oil content, low flavor and uneven inconsistent ripening. The oil content will develop as they mature with each harvest.
Read more about what to expect from early crop avocados in our Vegucation blog.
NEW! California Betterful Blueberry Pints
Apples
NEW! Kiku Club Apple. Kikus are super sweet, crunchy, juicy with firm flesh like their Fuji parent. Domestic Gala Apples winding down. New Zealand Apples are just around the corner. Honeycrisp moving into Euro packs 27# sizes.
Avocados
Mexico has a few strong weeks left and then we will fully transition into California.
Bananas
In an effort to improve upon your current Banana Program practices, we offer you some guidelines as a foundation of knowledge that pulls from decades of produce experience here at Earl’s Organic. Our goal is to establish training materials for both your team and ours, so when there is a conversation between retailer and wholesaler we are always starting from the same place. Download Earl’s NEW Ripening and Handling and Banana Color Guides.
Cara Caras
Berries
Blackberries and Raspberries: Supply is still tight coming out of Mexico. Watsonville/Salinas pushed back, and we will be in fruit out of Mexico through May.
Blueberries: Plenty of California fruit coming on over the next few weeks. The first California blueberry pints of the season are here from Betterful! The delicious Snowchaser variety is grown in the Central Valley. Ask your Earl’s Sales rep about Betterful Blueberry promotional opportunities and download the POS card to highlight your display. Family Farms 6oz as well as Forbidden ReadyCycle 6oz as available.
Strawberries: A lot of production out of Baja through May with berries overlapping out of Watsonville/Salinas. Great opportunity for a value strawberry before we are fully into California. Ask about promotional pricing on Ichiban strawberries.
Citrus
Grapefruit, Limes and Lemons looking strong. Plenty of small as well as larger sizes.
Midnight Valencias starting off strong and eating really well. Wonderful for juicing.
Mandarins winding down over the next 3-4 weeks with Tangos and Murcotts. We may see some Gold Nuggets.
Cara Caras strong for another week and then spotty inventory.
Navels will go into May.
Ataulfo Mangos
kiwi
California Kiwis starting in a week. New Zealand Gold Kiwis in 2 weeks.
Melons
Divine Fair Trade Honeydew and Mini Seedless Watermelon. By the end of the week we may see some Cantaloupe.
pears
Domestic Pears winding down. Abate Fetel will go for a few more weeks. If you haven’t tried the Durondeau and Alexandar Lucas, grab them before they disappear. Abate Fetel is sweet and aromatic, this pear is wonderful for cooking and eating out of hand. The Alexander Lucas pear when ripe, has buttery soft flesh, and is smooth and extremely juicy with a sweet delicate flavor. The Durondeau Pear has a golden exterior with streaks of red blush and is covered all over in a soft russet. They are a bit tart with a crisp bite and a floral flavor.
tropicals
Crespo Ataulfo availability is improving on Ataulfos and Tommy Atkins. Download Crespo varietal POS cards here. Plenty of Thai Coconuts and Pineapples.
VEGETABLES
veg update
Moving north from Mexico into all California Asparagus. Colder weather in the morning in the Salinas Valley has hindered production. Good news is that with warmer weather forecast for this week volume will increase. Expect prices to stay steady.
Potato storage crops are almost finished. The Pacific Northwest is done on Golds. Russets are set to end the second week of May. New crop Russets will be harvested by the middle of June with limited sizing and high prices. Anticipate a gap in supply from 2-4 weeks with no count russets. Bagged Russets will carry us through the transition. Tasteful Selections Honey Gold and Ruby Reds return the end of April and Fingerlings by Mid-May.
Storage Crop Onions are dwindling, and soon we will start to see Fresh Crop Onions which do not have the nice cure we are used to seeing.
Mexico is winding down on warm veg, while California is slow to start. Covilli will call it a wrap by mid-May. As the weather warms up it is easy to forget that all the rain and cold weather has slowed growth, flooded fields have delayed planting and prolonged the transition from the desert back up to Salinas/Watsonville. It takes anywhere from 30 to 60 days for a crop to grow. We can expect market shortages in the coming weeks and well into May on Broccoli, Napa Cabbage, Celery, Romaine, Iceberg, Leaf Lettuce, Kales, Cauliflower, Cilantro, Parsley, Fennel and more.
Rhubarb
Asparagus
Moving north from Mexico into all California Asparagus. Colder weather in the morning has hindered production. Good news is that with warmer weather forecast for this week volume will increase. Expect prices to stay steady.
Artichokes
JAS into their new planting of Artichokes beginning of May peaking on 12ct/18ct as well as Baby Sweet Broccoli.
bunched beets
Cal-O continuing to gap. Tomatero gapping on Red Bunched Beets for a week. Terra Firma Red and Gold Loose Beets coming on for the next month.
baby bok choy
NEW! Purple Baby Bok Choy from Anna’s may be a one-time shot. Grab these beauties while they are available.
green beans
Covilli finishing up their big sets. Moving into hoop houses now with smaller volume until they wrap up early May.
broccoli
Josie’s is hoping volume will look better this week.
Covilli Purple Brussels Sprouts
sweet baby broccoli
Extremely tight.
broccoli crowns
Hit or miss.
brussels sprouts
Covilli in a flush on Fair Trade Purple Brussels.
cabbage
Red, Green and Savoy coming out of the desert. Napa Cabbage gapping for a month.
carrots
Capay Bunched Nantes in good supply for a few more weeks. Sunrise is waiting for their nantes to size up.
cauliflower
Has been extremely tight and expensive. Look for better volume this week.
romanesco
Limited availability.
Tutti Sugar Snap Peas
celery
Due to growing challenges from weather, Celery will be coming out of Mexico for now. Look for some gaps in May.
cucumbers
Plentiful Slicers and Euro Cucumbers. Persian Clamshells a bit tight.
eggplant
Steady as they go.
greens
Red and Green Dandelions back in good volume. Starting to see the scarcity factor in Watsonville/Salinas weeks after the heavy rain/floods compounded with cold nights. Chards are scant for the next week. Still seeing some pest pressure on greens out of the desert growing region.
herbs
Fantastic quality on Cilantro. Flat Parsley is difficult to find.
lettuce
organicgirl situation is improving as they transition fully into the Watsonville/Salinas area, weather dependent. Loose Arugula is tight with volume and pricing will improve when the transition is complete.
Iceberg is seeing better volume and larger head sizes this week. Cal-O Butter Lettuce is tight. Leaf and Romaine Lettuce market improving with relief on pricing soon.
mushrooms
A full line up of Dried and Fresh Mushrooms. Download our Mushroom Guides on Earl’s Marketing resource page.
onions
Storage Crop Onions are dwindling, and soon we will start to see Fresh Crop Onions which do not have the nice cure we are used to seeing. Peri and Sons transitioning from Nevada into El Centro. Earth Bags will gap.
peas
English Peas haven’t set yet. Fun surprise- we will see Snow Peas from Tutti Frutti over the next few weeks. As weather improves we will see Fava Beans as well as more growers coming on with Sugar Snap Peas.
bell peppers
Green Peppers back in good supply as well as Orange, Red and Yellow.
hot peppers
Covilli Jalapenos tight. Padrons and Shishitos sporadic availability.
potatoes
Storage Crops are almost finished. The Pacific Northwest is done on golds potatoes. Russets are set to end the second week of May. New Crop Russets will be harvested by the middle of June with limited sizing and high prices. Anticipate a gap in supply from 2-4 weeks with no count russets. Bagged Russets will carry us through the transition. Tasteful Selections Honey Gold and Ruby Reds return the end of April and Fingerlings by Mid-May.
radishes
Loose White Daikon may gap due to quality issues.
rhubarb
Back in stock. Look for stable supply and pricing for the season. Learn more about Rhubarb.
bunched spinach
Limited harvest with high pricing. Will improve the beginning of May.
summer squash
Zucchini in good supply with prices going up as the season out of Mexico slows down. May see come choice zukes.
tomatoes
Roma Tomatoes hit or miss. Limited Cherry Tomatoes as they transition fields. Covilli Mixed Heirlooms will go through mid-May.
winter squash
Butternut is back with limited availability. Kabocha gapping for a few weeks.
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