Happy New Year

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produce market report December 31, 2013

Keany Produce Will not be delivering Wednesday, January 1st

Good Buy
Tomatoes Boston, romaine, iceberg, green and red leaf Mesculun, baby spinach and arugula Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Zucchini and yellow squash Butternut and acorn squash Green peppers Collard, kale and mustard greens

Good Buys:
Tomatoes are very reasonably priced right now and the quality is excellent. This is due to good weather in Florida and relatively low demand. We dont typically promote corn in the winter, but there is a bumper crop now out of Florida with outstanding quality and low prices. There is an interesting mix of low labor costs in Honduras and favorable growing conditions which are leading to very selective packaging of high quality cucumbers which you should consider now. Florida continues with great eggplant right now and the pricing is terrific. Green peppers are priced right . Nice collards, kale and mustard greens are arriving from the Carolinas and Georgia at good prices. Satsuma mandarins are moving fast.

Green and red leaf, boston, iceberg and romaine lettuce continues the trend of very favorable pricing with good weather in the growing areas. Also, with slow down in demand from the East, shippers are looking to move their bountiful production. Demand decline is favorably impacting the price of mesculun , baby spinach and arugula. The blackberry picking in Mexico is in full swing with nice berries and good prices. Quantities of both zucchini and yellow squash are plentiful leading to good prices and excellent quality. Mexico is shipping lots of butternut and acorn squash and the market is hot for these now. Good prices prevail. Juicing oranges are improving in sweetness and good pricing as there is a migration to Pineapple oranges from the Hamlin variety.

Keep in Mind:
We are lucky to be dual sourcing strawberries from both Florida and the coastal region of California near Oxnard. The holiday is inflating the prices through the end of the New Years festivities. Stem berries are coming from Florida as well but they, too are pricey. Avocados are up a little bit from Mexico with no issues. Green grapes are finished in California. We are seeing higher prices from Brazil, Chile and Peru. Red grapes are still coming from California. Blueberries have finished from Argentina and are now coming from Chile and Peru with a slight price increase. Driscoll raspberries from Oxnard have nice appearance and good pricing.

Florida is now sending the very popular Sunburst tangerines and we are continuing to receive awesome quality in Ruby red grapefruit on a daily basis. Smaller size navel oranges (113s and 138s) are still in short supply. Kumquats from California are still a popular holiday item. Lemons are happily back in good supply and reasonable pricing. Cantaloupes and honeydews are up in price due to New Year demand but the sugar content and overall quality is nice. Cauliflower has just started to recover from the recent growth slow down but now the issue is transportation. Red and yellow pear tomatoes are very tight. Celery is subject to an active market.

Keep in Mind
Sunburst tangerines Navel oranges Kumquats Lemons Strawberries Blueberries Grapes Avocados

Watch
Artichokes are basically nonexistent. They got heavily frosted last week and now the only size available at any price is the 24 ct. There are no babies, 36 or 18 count at all. Florida Green beans are very popular for the holiday and that demand his boosted prices. Brussels sprouts continue to be unusually high in price.

WATCH
Artichokes Green beans Cauliflower Brussels sprouts Celery Red and yellow pear tomatoes

Keany Produce Company | 3310 75th Avenue | Landover, MD 20785 | 301-772-3333 | FAX: 301-772-3469 Visit us on the web at: www.keanyproduce.com