AUAI

The Source
November 7, 2012
LLC 2012 PRO*ACT, LLC

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

COMMODITY ALERT:

Stem strawberries are very limited due to small sizing currently in California

Weather: Tim Lynch Possible record high temperatures throughout the western growing regions are expected into Wednesday. A strong cold front moves into California on Thursday bringing a drastic cool down and rain to Northern and Central California. This system will bring strong winds much cooler temperatures with just a slight chance of precipitation to Southern California and the Desert regions. Long term forecasts expect gradual clearing over the weekend with high pressure and seasonal temperatures returning by Monday.

Industry wide problem with quality and supplies of strawberries shipping out of California

Stone fruit done for the season

Melons are still limited

Washington apple demands are very strong as the early school demand has started, so stay ahead!

Freight: Mike McIntire

Trucks in California remain steady with rates higher than normal. Trucks in the Northwest and Idaho remain tight and will most likely remain that way thru out the fall season. Crude oil remained steady and is currently 85.03 per barrel. The national average on diesel remained steady and is currently 4.010 per gallon. California is steady as well at 4.225 per gallon.

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Commodity Updates
APPLES/PEARS John Tole New York continues to pack Galas, Empires, Golden Delicious, Macouns, McIntosh, and Red Delicious. They also have a few Cortlands, Staymens, Crispins, and Romes. All New York varieties are large except the McIntosh which is small. Washington Reds are still peaking on 88/100s and the Premium grade. Small lower grade reds remain limited. Golden delicious are peaking on size 88/100s and the Washington extra-fancy grade. There is some lower grade Goldens available. Washington Granny-Smith is heavy to the Premium grade and size 72s & 80s. The lower grade Granny availability has improved. California is cleaning up their Granny-Smiths. Washington Galas are producing more of the Washington extra-fancy grade and are peaking on 80/88/100s. The demand for small lower grade Galas still exceeds supplies. Washington Fujis are heavy to 64/72/80s and are producing more of the Washington extrafancy grade. Pink-ladys, Cameos, Jonagolds, Braeburns, Romes, and Jazz are also available in Washington. California still has Pink Ladies and they are peaking on extra-fancy 100/113s. Washington Bartletts are still producing mostly 110 and larger fruit. Washington Danjous is also heavier to the larger sizes. Bosc and red pears are also available. ASPARAGUS Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco The market is steady. Jumbo sizing is available in Salinas and Los Angeles if needed. Standard sizing is the most readily available. The pricing on Mexican grass is still very comparable to Peruvian product. Mexican grass will be light to moderate in supplies throughout the week. AVOCADO Tim Kelley Mexicos new main crop is crossing in good volume. California volume is finishing for some shippers as see the end of Californias season. California fruit is bringing a premium market price. Mexican fruit is aggressively priced. BELL PEPPERS Western Bells: Jaime Contreras Green bell market is on an upward trend. Expect lighter supplies on larger fruit as some growers are sizing down on current fields and/or transitioning to other districts which will affect availability. Expected weather

Commodities at a glance
Commodity Apples Asparagus Avocado (Mexican) Avocado (California) Bell Peppers (Western) Bell Pepper (Eastern) Berries: Strawberries Berries: Raspberries Berries: Blackberries Berries: Blueberries Broccoli Carrots Cauliflower Celery Citrus: Lemons Citrus: Oranges Cucumbers (Western) Cucumbers (Eastern) Eggplant Red Grapes Green Onions Lettuce: Leaf Lettuce: Iceberg Melons: Cantaloupe Melons: Honeydew Onions Pears Potatoes Squash (Western) Squash (Eastern) Stone Fruit Tomatoes (Western) Tomatoes (Eastern) Watermelon Quality Excellent Good Excellent Excellent Good Good Fair Good Fair Good Good Good Fair Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Fair Good Fair Good Good Excellent Good Excellent Good Good n/a Good Fair Good Market Lower Steady Steady Steady Steady Steady Higher Steady Steady Lower Steady Steady Higher Steady Steady Steady Steady Steady Steady Higher Steady Steady Steady Steady Lower Higher Steady Steady Steady Steady n/a Steady Steady Steady

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Commodity Updates Z
disturbance in California may affect harvesting and production. Light crossings through Nogales; expect increased volume next couple of weeks. *Colored Red bell market is on an upward trend. Growers are anticipating slightly lighter production as older districts are playing out and cold weather passes through. Coachella is starting up first/ second week of November. We expect cooler temperatures and some rain which will slow some harvesting. Extreme Demand exceeds market. Gold bells are settling but, they continue demand exceeds supplies. Eastern Bells: Janine Baird Florida is starting to ramp up their pepper volume as both south and central Florida are working pepper. Quality has been excellent on the new crop pepper and remains good in Georgia as well. Demand is steady.

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this commodity. Santa Maria has production if desired. Overall, the quality has been favorable with little to no major issues worth reporting. Pricing is competitive with most suppliers. CARROTS Tim Kelley California carrot supplies remain good. Demand is better as other growing regions finish for the season. Market is showing some firming CAULIFLOWER Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco Supplies are light to moderate depending on the supplier. Pricing has increased. Demand is stronger. Supplies are heaviest to twelve and sixteen count. This past week there were complaints upon arrivals on brown spotting. As the Salinas season winds down, there could be more issues. Suppliers are watching product as closely as possible. CELERY Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is steady. Smaller sizing, 36s and smaller continue to have the lightest availability. The supplies on 24 counts have tightened up with many suppliers. Salinas and Santa Maria production continues with a few suppliers. Oxnards production has picked up. The reports on quality have been good out of the Oxnard region. CITRUS Tim Kelley Lemons: Ventura crop harvest is done. The Desert crop volume is good. Size continues to be heavy on the smaller fruit (140 and smaller). Quality is good and improved availability for larger fruit is coming. Oranges: The Navel crop has started and volume will continue to increase as more shippers begin packing. Fruit is testing well, but color is slow to come. Nighttime temps are dropping which will bring on color faster. Fruit is currently packing on heavy to the Fancy grade and peaking on the smaller sizes. 72s and larger are still limited. Limes: Supplies are good on all sizes. CUCUMBERS Western Cucumber: Jaime Contreras Market is on an upward trend; production has increased as well as new acreage coming online. Cucumbers have started crossing

BERRIES Mike Gorczyca Strawberries: Quality out of California has improved slightly this week. Bruising, light decay, green tips and white shoulders are still showing up in the packs. Sizing is still small with counts in the low to mid twenties. Stem Strawberries are very limited and will be for the next couple of weeks maybe longer. Market is firming. The next growing area to come into play is Mexico which has started in a light way. Quality is being reported as good to fair. Market is firm with light supplies. This product will be shipping out of McAllen, Texas. Raspberries: Supplies and demand are moderate with fair to good quality being shipped currently. Supplies are being harvested in Mexico, Oxnard and Watsonville currently. Market is steady. Blackberries: Rain in the growing area will interrupt supplies slightly going into the weekend. Quality is being reported as fair. Market is steady. Blueberries: Supplies have improved for some and other still have limited supplies on both coasts. Market is starting to weaken. Quality is being reported as good. The main pack size is switching to 6oz with a few 4.4oz being packed. BROCCOLI Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market continues to stay steady. Salinas continues to be the strongest area producing

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Commodity Updates Z
through Nogales fair to good quality though, has kept market up on good lots. Weather on the west coast has also hampered production and harvesting. Eastern Cucumbers: Janine Baird Florida is into good volume on cukes now and Georgia is still working. Demand remains steady and market should remain at the current levels for the better part of the week. EGGPLANT Western Eggplant: Jaime Contreras Market is on a steady. Expect lighter supplies on large fruit due to field production sizing down. Light supplies crossing through Nogales; excellent quality on first crossings. Eastern Eggplant: Janine Baird The quality and volume in Georgia have been excellent. Demand remains steady. GRAPES: Amy Grolnick The market on the red grapes has leveled off but product is still limited. The two tiered market continues with 50-60% color and less and 85-95% color fruit on reds. Greens continue to be limited and we may see a gap in the coming weeks. Brazilian green should come into the West Coast mid November. Black Seedless and Red globe both have good supplies. GREEN ONIONS Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is steady, like the previous week. Suppliers have had good production out of Mexico. We have a split market currently as the pencil onions seem to be readily available while the larger sizes are tighter. LEAF LETTUCE Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco The Salinas Valley will continue production on all leaf items throughout this week. Yuma, Santa Maria and Huron will also have production depending on the shipper. Sizes and weights are reported to be good. The weather has been ideal for growing. Rain is expected by Thursday of this week. LETTUCE Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco This market is steady. Weights on palletized are reported to be 39-42 pounds. There continues to be reports upon arrivals on quality. Issues continue to center on brown butts, discoloration and ribbing. Seeder is also out

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there. Santa Maria, Huron and Yuma are the main growing areas for this commodity. Huron is where most of the lettuce is being harvested. Supplies are almost finished in Salinas. MELONS: Amy Grolnick Cantaloupe: The desert is going with good availability and a firm market. Its a mixed bag with some shippers in larger fruit and some peaking to 12s and smaller. There are fewer grower/shippers in the mix than have been in the past in the desert. Nogales has Mexican fruit coming over the boarder but very limited and peaking to 9s. Honeydew: There is better availability out of Nogales with the Arizona area remaining limited. Most fruit is peaking to 5s and larger and remains limited. ONIONS John Tole Both Washington and Idaho/Oregon are steady to slightly higher all yellows. The Thanksgiving pull has started so demand is slightly stronger. Red onions are steady in both areas. The wide price-gap between Idaho/Oregon and Washington is still there on jumbo reds. Medium reds are short in both districts. Whites are steady in all areas with good supplies available. The quality has been good in all areas and on all colors. POTATOES John Tole The Idaho market is flat on both varieties. Larger counts are still abundant in both varieties while the smaller counts and consumer bags are more limited due to the Thanksgiving pull. Idaho continues to peak on 70s and larger. Washington potatoes are steady to higher on the smaller counts and steady on the larger. Colorado also producing more of the larger counts and is limited on 80s and smaller. Expect Colorado to continue to follow the Idaho market. The russet quality has been good to excellent in all areas. Stockton, California is still packing whites and golds. Both varieties are still heavier to A-size. Washington, Wisconsin, and Minnesota continue packing pack new-crop reds & golds and they are all mostly steady and also have better availability in the A-size. Idaho reds and golds are also both peaking on A-size and the availability is increasing. The colored potato quality has been fairly good to excellent in all areas.

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Commodity Updates
SQUASH Western Squash: Jaime Contreras Market is an upward trend on both Italian and Yellow S/n. Supplies are adequate. Supplies are improving as Mexico has begun and California continues with lighter production from Santa Maria, Ca. New acreage coming online from Coachella this week, light numbers expected. Eastern Squash: Janine Baird Many Georgia growers are done with their squash fields and volume in Georgia is dropping off considerably. Demand is a bit stronger this week as the northeast recovers from last weeks storm. Look for prices to go up over the next few days. STONE FRUIT Amy Grolnick Domestic fruit has finished for the season. There are both Hichiya and Fuyu persimmons and pomegranates available with good availability and quality. TOMATOES Jay Martini Western: The first two weeks of November are traditionally when Californias San Joaquin Valley finishes up for the season due to less daylight & ambient heat in the fields, and the constant threat of rain. Most mature green grower/shippers are done for the season & the last loads are shipping out to Western & Midwest destinations. Eastern: With the fall Palmetto/Ruskin mature green tomato crop front & center, pickers are dodging raindrops to get into the fields. Sizes are skewing towards extra-large size, and while yields are not plentiful as of yet, quality is very good. The Quincy/Tallahassee district is due to finish up within a week or so, and looks for the next area, Immokalee in south Florida, to start around Thanksgiving. VALUE ADDED Gabe Romero/Mike Pacheco The quality on lettuce is up and down, but there is enough to fill all processors needs. The Romaine supplies have good availability, and the quality is better with many suppliers. Broccoli supplies are steady. The cauliflower supplies have tightened up, in comparison to the previous week. Overall, processors are being covered.

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WATERMELON: Jaime Contreras Market is steady. Demand exceeds on s/less watermelon. Most availability will be in cartons. Availability on seeded watermelon is sporadic. W/melon has started crossing through Nogales, supplies are improving as other growers start harvesting.

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