Weekly Market Review

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Nigel Flowers
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Weekly Market Review March 2, 207 Overview The previous month s adversely unstable weather conditions in the Yuma growing region are still causing quality problems, lower overall weights and yields.

1 Weekly Market Review March 2, 207 Overview The previous month s adversely unstable weather conditions in the Yuma growing region are still causing quality problems, lower overall weights and yields. The unusual weather has created industry wide shortages in supply on multiple items including: broccoli, cauliflower, cilantro, as well as red and green leaf. We are also seeing short supply of romaine hearts. Avocados have eased slightly. FORECAST FOR NEXT MONTH: Over the next two to four weeks (now through the end of March) the industry will experience issues with supply for romaine/mix lettuce, romaine hearts, broccoli and cauliflower. These issues are a result of the warmer than normal weather conditions that have taken place since start of Yuma and product being -2 weeks ahead of schedule (broccoli/cauliflower) and as far ahead of schedule as 2-3 weeks on a high side (romaine/mix and romaine hearts) throughout the entire Yuma growing season. Growers have tried to do what they can to slow product growth and minimize the supply shortage but unfortunately, it is easier said than done when mother nature brings the product forward in Yuma. In regards to Salinas, the extremely wet and cold weather has impacted the Salinas planting season (January/February.) Our growers are attempting to bring product forward as much as possible to mitigate the potential supply gap, but this has been extremely challenging with temperatures ranging from the mid 50 s to low 60 s. This is compounded by January and February being some of the wettest months on record. In the next five weeks we will see shortages on product. PLEASE PLAN AHEAD FOR THIS SITUATION. Market Alert Avocados EXTREME Broccoli - EXTREME Cauliflower - EXTREME Celery- QUALITY Cilantro - EXTREME Garlic - EXTREME Lemons- SIZING Lettuce Romaine & Romaine Hearts - EXTREME Good Buys Blueberries Blueberries are one of the most nutrient-dense foods in the world that contain large levels and a broad range of antioxidants. The ORAC score of blueberries is an incredible 9,62, which makes it one of the highest antioxidant foods. The top health benefits of blueberries include: combatting the aging process, boosting brainpower, fighting cancer, and improving your digestion. Try making a Blueberry-Bacon Barbecue Sauce to go with your Pork Tenderloin or Cherry Bacon Blueberry Kabobs. Blackberries Health benefits of blackberries include better digestive health, strengthened immune defense, healthy functioning of heart, and prevention of cancer. Blackberries provides cognitive benefits and helps in enhancing memory, weight management, keeping the bones strong, healthy skin, and improved vision. At the end of the day you can make a Blackberry Cordial or have a Blackberry Chocolate Chip pie. Transportation No changes to report, trucks are in adequate supply in all districts including the Northwest, Southwest, Texas and Florida. Weather Clear skies and mild temperatures returned to California and Arizona this week. A cooling trend is in the weekend forecast, with moderate shower activity in Central California. Daytime highs will range from the high 50 s to low 70 s, with night-time lows in the 30 s & 40 s. Warm weather conditions will continue in Central Mexico, with highs reaching the mid 90 s in the Sinaloa district by the weekend. The late-week forecast calls for temperatures to decline to on average in Central & South Florida, with highs in the 70 s and lows in the 50 s & 60 s, accompanied by the occasional shower.

2 Fruits & Vegetables Avocados: EXTREME MARKET We continue to see a shortage in supply and prices rising. We did see slight improvement in this market the last week. Bananas: Demand and quality are good and supply is steady. Grapes: Supplies are improving and demand is lighter than expected. Sugraones and Flame pricing is down this week. Berries Blueberries: Production is steady overall. Local Florida blueberries are now available, with increasing volume moving forward. Quality is outstanding on the blueberries from Central Mexico. Baja California, Oxnard and Santa Maria will begin to increase their volume in the near future. Chile is finished for the season. Blackberries: Supplies are becoming more consistent from Central Mexico, with better availability. Raspberries: Production volume in California will increase as we move toward spring, although with the recent heavy rainfall in Oxnard there has been a short-term decline in yield. Central Mexico is currently the primary growing area. Strawberries: Tight availability and firm markets continue due to adverse weather in February throughout California and Florida. Favorable growing conditions returned to California this week, production and yields are expected to rebound by mid-march. Central Mexico continues to have steady availability. California / Arizona Citrus Weather in the Central Valley has finally started to clear up and has allowed for picking. Oranges are expected to become more available as inventory recovers over the next couple of days. Navels: Supplies are expected to increase as weather continues to clear up. Quality, flavor and internal color are good. More large, fancy grade are available due to recent weather. Lemons: Volume is expected to be low for the next couple weeks. Very tight on 65S and 200S, Shippers have been subbing 40S and 235S on contract orders, when necessary. Meyer lemons are available. Good quality and price. Mostly large, fancy grade fruit. Limes: Limes are available and are packing in Texas. Great quality and color. Grapefruit: Texas grapefruit is packing, good supply of 40s and smaller. Florida Red and Dark Red grapefruit will be finishing up at the end of February. California grapefruit has started. Specialties: Minneola Tangelos and Mandarins are available, great quality and color. Blood Oranges are in good supply, great color. Cara Caras are available, excellent color and quality. Avocado: Supply is very tight. Market demand is high. Pineapple: Supply will be VERY tight over the next four weeks. Expect prorates. California Lettuce Green and Red Leaf: We are seeing a lot of dirt due to the heavy winds, seeders and tip burn. We are seeing very short supply on red leaf and green leaf, however quality is good. Prices are high on both. Iceberg Lettuce: Supplies of iceberg lettuce are average. Quality is good to average, and we are seeing some mildew due to the rain. The quality is consistent across the board. Romaine: EXTREME MARKET Very light supplies. Quality is hit or miss with epidermal peeling.

3 Romaine Hearts: EXTREME MARKET Supplies are VERY light. We are seeing twisting with average quality, and peeling. Prices are rising, we are seeing a very short supply. Eastern and Western Vegetables Green & Red Bell Peppers: Green bell peppers are in good supply in Florida and Mexico. Red bells from Mexico are in plentiful supply. Cucumbers: Demand has increased for cucumbers in Nogales; quality is good. Import volume on cucumbers from Central America is steady and their quality is variable. English Cucumber: Availability is plentiful in Nogales. Green Beans: Supplies have tightened in Florida as the result of the bloom drop that occurred in January. Prices remain high. A two-tier price structure has developed for beans in Nogales due to the wide range in quality, with the best quality commanding a substantial premium. Zucchini & Yellow Squash: Production in the West is on a decline as the season winds down in Central Mexico (Sinaloa). Prices are moving sharply higher for zucchini and yellow squash, and quality has declined for this late-season fruit. Shippers in Nogales anticipate improved availability by mid-march, when new crops will become available from northern Mexico (Sonora). Supplies have tightened significantly in Florida and prices are on the rise due. This is due to the previous rainfall and winds that have caused a dramatic decline in quality and yield, affecting both zucchini and yellow squash. Herbs Quality on all the other herbs is very steady. We are having no issues with the cold temperatures around the country. Please keep us informed if there are any changes that we need to be made aware of. SAVORY: This is the only herb that is short. HERB SUPPLIES QUALITY COUNTRY OF ORIGIN Arugula Good Good USA Basil Good Good USA/MEXICO Opal Basil Good Good USA/MEXICO Thai Basil Good Good USA/MEXICO Bay Leaves Good Good COLUMBIA Chervil Good Good USA Chives Good Good USA/MEXICO Cilantro Good Good USA Dill Good Good USA/MEXICO Episode Good Good MEXICO Lemongrass Good Good USA Marjoram Steady Good USA Mint Good Good USA Oregano Good Good USA Italian Parsley Good Good USA Rosemary Limited Good USA

4 Sage Good Good USA/MEXICO Savory Good Good USA Sorrel Good Good USA Tarragon Good Good MEXICO Thyme Good Good USA Lemon Thyme Good Good USA Lavender Good Good USA Lime Leaves Good Good USA Hora Santa Good Good USA Melons Production from the Zacapa Valley in Guatemala has started. Strong retail promotions are in place ahead of the volume so the market is expected to remain fairly stable. Quality looks to be outstanding from the new area with good sizing, color and internal quality. Cantaloupe: Good volume of cantaloupes are anticipated as early as next week. With unseasonably warm weather, good quality and supply, the month of March will be an opportune time to promote cantaloupes. Honeydew: Production remains steady right now as Guatemala begins. The majority of the dews have been coming from Honduras and are in the middle of a short transition gap. Sizing has been peaking on 6/8s with 5s and larger being very short. Watermelon: Seedless watermelon supply remains strong and the market has been steady. Supply from Honduras should continue through March. Mixed Vegetables Artichokes: We are seeing very high prices and very short supply. Quality is good. Arugula: Supplies of both baby and wild arugula are light due to mildew. Asparagus: Prices have dropped and quality is good. Bok Choy: Quality is good and we are seeing some higher quotes on WGA cartons. Broccoli: EXTREME MARKET Broccoli is in short supply. We expect this market to get tighter as we move into next week, as a result of warmer than usual weather plus the large amount of rain that has fallen. We are seeing a gap in harvest schedules and supplies. Brussel Sprouts: The market and supplies are good this week. Quality is good. Carrots: Georgia carrots are still going strong. They are in good supply and have solid quality. Cauliflower: EXTREME MARKET Due to the weather, we are seeing shortages and very high prices. Quality is average. Please expect price increases and short supply. Celery: QUALITY ISSUES and shortage in supply. We continue to experience rain events throughout California, with February historically being our rain month. In Oxnard, the result of these constant rains has caused the celery to develop many defects in the acres we are currently harvesting and will harvest for several weeks to come. The outer petioles continue to get water logged (becoming translucent), and although we will try to strip these petioles from the stalks while harvesting, we will not be 00% effective. More recently we are experiencing a level of pith much higher than we were three to four weeks ago. Pith at high levels can be a major defect as the inside of the celery will tend to break down quicker and turn into decay. It becomes very apparent at

5 the ends of the celery where the celery has been cut. Even the use of our waterjet cutting technology cannot minimize the effects of high amounts of pith we are experiencing. Some of the other overall quality issues that celery is experiencing under these constant rain conditions are listed below.. Outer petioles Water logged (translucency) 2. Light color/pale 3. Mud inside petioles. 4. Reduce shelf life (7 days max) 5. Brown ends. It is very important that our customers make every attempt to order the minimum amount of product necessary to fill orders and to avoid any type of inventory on their end. With reduced shelf life and the potential higher level of pith than usual this time of year, this is not a good time to stock up for promotions or introduce this product for the first time. We will update this information as we see any substantial shifts in quality. Corn: Florida sweet corn has seen a spike in pricing this week. There has been less availability as in previous weeks due to planting gaps and the cooler weather hindering maturity. Cilantro: EXTREME MARKET Supplies are very light. Quality is variable as there is still yellowing with some decay. Price are high and we are seeing shortages. Fennel: Supplies for the week will be light. Garlic: EXTREME MARKET: The supply of domestic garlic remains tight. Pricing on domestic peeled 4x5s is still high. In the past week or two, we have observed a slight relief in demand. This is fairly normal after the New Year. Concerning Chinese supply, at the moment, there is definitely more supply available, especially on the East Coast. This time of year, it is normal for Chinese exporters to export all pounds that did not make it into cold storage for the year. A percentage of the loads being received in the US the past month are due to this. The garlic was never put into cold storage, and if it was not sold/shipped in late November/December, the product will/would expire altogether. A percentage of Chinese peeled lbs. received in the last month are challenged (especially on the East Coast). Issues include excess translucency, pink and yellow aging/stress marks, and mold, etc. With the additional supply overlapped with some quality issues, the price of Chinese garlic has come down some in the past month, however as of this week we are seeing it rise again due to Chinese supply decreasing. As we move forward in the next 3 months, we expect the Chinese supply to decrease more, and the Chinese market again to return to abnormal highs. Some Chinese shippers have recently received higher duty rates from US Customs. There are indications that these companies will not be exporting garlic to the US for the foreseeable future. Ginger: Chinese ginger is in good supply. It is being offered at a substantial discount compared to ginger from Brazil. Green Cabbage: Green cabbage is in good supply and should be steady this week. Quality is good. Green Onions: The green onion supply for the industry is getting better. Prices are average. Kale (Green): Demand is steady and quality is average. We are seeing some mildew. Mache: Availability is adequate. Napa: Supplies are good and quality is excellent. Parsley (Curly, Italian): Prices are normal and quality is average. Radishes: Quality is good and supply is plentiful.

6 Red Cabbage: Quality and sizing have been great, with good color. Overall, the market is strong. Snow and Sugar Snap Peas: Snow and sugar snap peas are in high demand with good quality. Spinach (Bunched): Supply is average; quality is only fair. We are still seeing some mildew in this product. Spinach (Baby): Baby and clipped spinach supplies are light. Quality is fair to good, with good prices. There are some reports of mildew. Spring Mix: There is plenty of product with quality being average, but it has improved. Onions Pricing has remained sluggish as Mexican supplies have continued to increase volume on all three colors. We do not anticipate seeing prices going any lower, as some Northwest growers have finished for the season, with more continuing to wrap up in the coming weeks. The size profile on the Mexican product has switched from smaller onions to being heavier to Jumbos. Quality remains strong in the Northwest on all three colors. Potatoes We are finally seeing some movement in Idaho Market. The larger size Nekota cartons have seen a small increase in price, mostly due to the fact this variety is cleaning up. It appears that there are only a limited number of operations that will have the Nekota variety left to ship. The consumer demand is fair, we probably will not see any improvements in this area until the Easter demand is upon us, but that will be short lived. The quality of the Burbank crop at this time has been good and will have good quality for the next few weeks. Transportation in the state at this time is adequate. TOMATOES East: Rounds Supplies in the east remain good despite the recent weather events. FOB prices are mostly unchanged this week with excellent quality being reported. Roma Harvest forecasts are mostly unchanged and quality is good. Pricing will be mostly unchanged this week. Grapes Supplies are good and quality is excellent. FOB prices remain unchanged this week. Quality remains very nice. Cherries Supplies are steady and quality remains good. FOB prices are remaining mostly unchanged. West/Mexico: Rounds Vine-ripe production is good through Nogales and McAllen, still light crossings through Otway. FOB prices are mostly unchanged this week. Overall quality is very nice on all sizes throughout Nogales, McAllen and Otay. Romas Supplies are good through Nogales and McAllen with great quality expected over the next 7 to 4 days. Grapes Good supplies are crossing through Nogales and quality remains excellent. Cherries Supplies are good, but the quality is off a bit this week. We expect to see a tick up in the prices as demand is driving more pull out of the East. APPLES, PEARS, & TREE FRUIT Apples: Demand and movement is steady with supplies readily available in most sizes and grades with the exception of golds and grannys. Supply remains tight on 00s and smaller on all grades except premium. 25s and smaller sizes in all varieties will continue to be tight all season. Pears: Demand and movement are steady. Most supplies are now coming out of California. Prices remain high on D Anjous, 00s and smaller whereas Bartletts have a much better value.

Weekly Market Review

Weekly Market Review April 3, 207 Overview This month has been very unstable for the industry. We are experiencing EXTREME MARKETS on ALL lettuce commodities, broccoli and cauliflower. We are also experiencing