MARKET UPDATE 06.22.25

Good afternoon,

SUMMER officially begins tomorrow! The season brings sweet domestic STONE FRUIT like CHERRIES, PLUMS, PEACHES, and NECTARINES. We will also start to see northern growing areas like CANADA, MICHIGAN, and OHIO start back up as well as California HONEYDEW and CANTALOUPE. APPLES will start to wind down for the year as growers clear out their last controlled atmosphere rooms to prepare for the fall harvest in a few months.

Hurricane Erick made landfall this morning in Mexico as a category 3 storm. The situation is currently developing but we may see adverse effects once the storm passes through sometime in the next few days.

Washington CHERRIES are settling into the season, bringing market pricing lower! Sizing is peaking just below conventional retail sizes, around the 11-row mark. Quality has been strong and flavor is beginning to develop as we move into varieties with sweeter flavor profiles.

Steady rain on the east coast has created some difficulties for SQUASH, PEPPER, and more. Too much rain in the fields, especially on items like YELLOW SQUASH and ZUCCHINI, can cause internal issues that develop overtime post harvest. Eastern veg is also transitioning its way up north, from Georgia into the Carolinas and finally up to the Northeast in the next few weeks, so the situation will be changing weekly, if not daily.

LETTUCE, LEAFY GREENS, ROMAINE and ROMAINE HEART supplies are falling rapidly in the Salinas Valley. Quality and size issues in the field are limiting production leading to higher market pricing. Weather does not seem to be a part of the problem for now, so hopefully markets turn around in the next week or so.

GRAPES have stabilized albeit at higher levels. RED SEEDLESS are seeing better availability out of Mexico however sizing out of that region is small. Any true XLG RED SEEDLESS GRAPE will have to come out of Coachella, CA where pricing is higher and supplies tighter. GREENS and BLACKS are scarce out of both regions. Extreme HEAT and limited labor due to ICE raids are not helping the situation in Southern California either. The relief on the smaller RED seedless out of MX is nice, but we are still some time away from the larger fruit to be moderately priced.

ANJOU PEARS are all that is left up in Washington! Half box RED PEARS can be sourced but the pricing is near what a full box was just a week ago. BOSC PEARS are seriously scarce on the import side, with availability adjusting weekly as containers arrive from South America. In JULY, we will see some relief with the start of California BARTLETT and BOSC pears. Finally in AUGUST is when the domestic golden bosc and bartlett pears will really begin to take off.

More as it happens,

Parker Tannehill