BUYER’S NOTES
Updated May 29, 2022
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NEW!
• California Watermelon Bins
• Raspberries from Sun Valley
• Cherries – Bing Variety
• Dwelley Green Beans- Friday
• Local Cherry Tomatoes – Comanche Creek - Thursday -
COMING SOON
• Comanche Creek – Early Girl Tomatoes – June
• Dwelley – Blenheims - June
• Dwelley Beans and Corn – June
• CA Fresh Crop Russets - June
• Domestic Galia and Honeydew Melons -
BACK IN STOCK
• Buddha Hand
• Sweet Limes
• Kumquats -
TIGHT INVENTORY
• Colored Bells
• Butternut Squash
• Avocados (larger sizes 40/48)
• Hot Peppers
• Russet Potatoes - Fresh Crop in (2) weeks (Bakersfield)
• Sweet Potatoes -
GAPPING
• Rutabaga
• Fingerlings
• Celery Hearts
• Shallots
• Sunchokes -
WINDING DOWN
• Covilli
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FINISHED
• Forbidden Blues (Back in August)
• Covilli Mixed Heirlooms and Green Beans
• Dwelley Cherries
FRUIT
California Stone Fruit season is full on! Apricots, Apriums, Cherries, Nectarines, Pluots, and Peaches! Earl’s sells by the variety. Download our stone fruit calendars and follow the flavor.
Melons and Grapes ramping up with Mangos gaining volumes and velocity to promote. Shop variety and sizes for best value and be flexible. Tomatero Strawberries take center stage as Forbidden Blueberries exit (returning in August). California-grown Valencias are in stock as we say goodbye to Navels with Mandarins all but done. Vibrant red Rhubarb!
Domestic Apples are finishing and Pears are done. California Avocado season continues with expected gaps coming in August. Mexico is scrambling to start early. There is some price relief in the smaller sizes and our exclusive partnership with Rincon has ensured excellent quality.
APPLES
Limited Domestic options and moving toward imports. Domestic, new crop, coming in August/September.
AVOCADOS
Reports of the California season ending early are sending prices higher. Additionally, the water shortage in Southern California is forcing growers to strip the fruit from the trees before they size up. Mexico is scrambling to start earlier but September is a long way away. Bumpy ride until Fall.
FAIR TRADE BANANAS
Coliman and Equal Exchange are ripening well. Look for our daily updates with our price list.
BERRIES
Blackberries: Coming from Baja until Tomatero starts at the end of June.
Blueberries: Forbidden is almost finished. Homegrown will be our main grower for Pints and 18oz until late June from La Pierre label (Oregon.)
Strawberries: Tomatero and Sun Valley. Tasting great!
Raspberries: Fresh Kampo still going strong. Limited, yet increasing supply, from Sun Valley.
CITRUS
Grapefruit: Hyde Oroblanco - solid supply and tasting great.
Valencias: California season has begun.
Navels: Navels and Caras are done for the season.
California Lemons: Marsalisi Meyers - solid supply throughout Spring and early Summer.
Mandarins: Gold Nuggets are ending.
GRAPES
U.S. grape season has begun out of Coachella.
KIWI
New Zealand is starting. Deliciously sweet without the acidity found in a green kiwi, the Gold Kiwis have 3x the vitamin C of an orange!
MELONS
Watermelon Bins are here, with multiple vendors coming on! A great value and cutting well – ask your sales rep for more information. Quantity should be solid. Honeydew and Cantaloupes coming on.
PEARS
All imports.
STONE FRUIT
Keep an eye on the price list - new varieties and sizes will land daily.
TROPICALS
Mangos are promotable! Mango Mania starts June 15th. Stay tuned for details.
VEGETABLES
Local Greens are at the peak of quality as the heat last week was followed by cooler weather! (No burn or bugs). Dwelley Green Beans and Comanche Creek Cherry Tomatoes should be available by the end of the week. California farms: Dwelley, Lakeside, Tomatero, Sunrise, Sun Valley and Anna’s provide a plethora of bountiful fresh produce. Coastal View Produce Asparagus continues through July 4th holiday and all things Peas coming from Tutti Frutti.
Catch the last bit of Spring before they are gone: Grab some Artichokes and Purple Artichokes from JAS! New Crop Russets, Fingerlings and improved sizing on new crop Onions should appear in good supply by the end of June. Covilli is starting to wind down on their Green Beans and Heirloom Tomato program. Another fine season is ending. Beware of gapping colored Bells as supplies tighten toward the end of the Mexico season.
ASPARAGUS
Production cycles are strong. Look for “smalls” for a value option.
ARTICHOKES
Decent quality and Purple from JAS.
BUNCHED BEETS
Tutti Frutti and Sun Valley are our main suppliers, solid program and quality across the board.
GREEN BEANS
Coachella Beans are done. Overall limited availability due to Mexico winding down and waiting for local Dwelley Green Beans to start at the end of the week. Green Romano, French, and Yellow Wax to arrive mid-June.
BROCCOLI
Solid from Lakeside/Josie’s.
SWEET BABY BROCCOLI
Tomatero full on. Lakeside is solid.
BROCCOLI CROWNS
Good supply and quality.
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
Covilli will continue with product growing out of Baja. Pricing is slowly increasing.
CABBAGE
Anna’s and Lakeside are the main labels – heads are sizing up on the smaller side, but quality is beautiful. Napa supply has been touch and go.
CARROTS
Cal-O Carrots are in better supply. Sunrise and Lakeside look nice. Nantes solid, back and forth from Sunrise and Sun Valley.
CAULIFLOWER
Supplies have improved. Look for Colored from Sun Valley in a week or so.
ROMANESCO
Improving supply from Tomatero. Sun Valley is coming on in 7-10 days.
CELERY
Improving supplies.
CORN
Cal-O returns mid-week.
CUCUMBERS
Fair Trade Persians are limited but will have non-Fair Trade available. Euro Cucumbers are back in stock.
EGGPLANT
Globe is in good supply.
GINGER
Keep Ginger tight – at the end of the season, the quality can spoil quickly. We’re keeping our eyes on the product daily but be prepared to see minor mold on the tips. Let your sales rep know of any significant spoilage.
GREENS
Sun Valley and Tomatero are carrying the lion’s share across the entire class. Look for some smaller growers to supplement and increase variety at the retail level.
HERBS
Good supplies.
LETTUCE
Sun Valley is experimenting with iceberg and other beautiful leaf lettuces as well. We continue to see minor aphid challenges on green and red leaf lettuce.
LEEKS
Tomatero this week.
BELL PEPPERS
A bit of volatility in the market with demand outpacing supply. We will see gaps this week on all Colored Bells. Hopefully we will see some relief in 2-3 weeks.
HOT PEPPERS
Hot weather in Mexico causing some quality issues. Limited supply on all varieties.
ONIONS
New crop landing and quality/sizing improving.
POTATOES
Fresh crop Russets should come mid-June. Gold and Red Potatoes are back. Fingerlings mid-June.
PEAS
Tutti Snaps, Snow, and English Peas!
RADISHES
Crunchy, sweet, and firm.
SUMMER SQUASH
California Zucchini supply coming on strong with Tomatero. Yellow Squash is tight. Comanche Creek’s Mixed Varietal Summer Squash is beautiful!
SWEET POTATOES
Keeping it tight, end of season supply – remember these were harvested in the end of 2021!
TOMATOES
Wilgenburg is in full swing. Tutti Heirlooms are hopeful for early June. Earl Girl and Cherry Tomatoes from Comanche Creek in June!
WINTER SQUASH
Butternut is tight. Covilli is wrapping up Honeynut and Kabocha in the next week or so.
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