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** NOW AVAILABLE - FIDDLEHEADS- Ontario fiddleheads are in full swing.ASPARAGUS - Supplies of Ontario asparagus are steady and NOW is the time to feature Ontario asparagus on your menu. Warm weather has really brought on strong production. Pricing has eased. Remember, Ontario packs 28lb. cases only. HOTHOUSE TOMATO- Ontario red vine and hothouse tomatoes continue with good supply. Gourmet medley, yellow grape and Campari are also available with good supply. There will be excellent quality with consistent supplies for next week.PEPPERS - Red, yellow and orange hothouse bell peppers continue. Volume is just fair with very good quality. Pricing is stable this week.RHUBARB - Ontario greenhouse rhubarb continues. Supplies remain very tight. Prices remain high. Quality is outstanding.ONION - Ontario yellow onions continue with good quality and good supplies.CARROT - Ontario carrots are done for the season. Mexico and Israel have both started. Heirloom carrots continue with just fair quality and steady supplies.MUSHROOMS - Mushrooms continue to be short; especially buttons due to production issues.POTATO – Large #1 chefs continue to be in good supply. Good quality Yukon Golds are very tight. There is a severe issue with hollow heart in Yukon Golds in Ontario, Quebec and Michigan.CABBAGE – Green, red and savoy cabbage are done for the season. Local will start again in August.ENGLISH CUCUMBERS – Local production continues. Production continues to be very strong. Expect the market to continue at the current low levels.APPLES – The Ontario apple season continues with McIntosh and Empires in light supply. Prices are elevated due to short supplies in Washington and good export demand.HOTHOUSE LETTUCE - Hydroponic Salanova supplies are good with very good quality. Hydroponic boston supplies are much better with very good quality.

Green Peppers: Supplies are very tight.Cauliflower: Yields are way down due to the wet weather in the Salinas Valley the last few months.Stone Fruit: California fruit continues this week. Light volumes of peaches, nectarines apricots and cherries are available. Market prices are getting better, but are still high.Apples: We are experiencing extremely limited supplies of Granny Smith and Golden Delicious apples. Food service sizes (125ct, 138ct) are getting harder to come by. The market is extremely active. Chilean imported Galas are set to arrive in 1-2 weeks.

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• CELERY: Supplies remain extremely limited and markets are at historical high prices. Poor weather has slowed the growth of this commodity. Demand exceeds supplies. Triggered pricing is in place on contracts as well as with value added items.

• GREEN GRAPES: Supplies are limited, quality is fair and prices are high. Expect high amber color and occasional soft berries

• CASTLEFRANCO• FLORIDA JUICE ORANGE• CLEMENTINES• CARA CARA ORANGE• ONTARIO RHUBARB• FIDDLEHEADS• ENGLISH PEAS

• RAMPS• CHERRIES• APRICOTS• PEACHES• NECTARINES• FAVA BEANS

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MARKET AT A GLANCE:

CODE: # 6565PACK SIZE: 12 x 1/2 pints

Blackberries

• POTATOES CANADIAN - Canada’s March 1 table potato stocks are down 15.6% from last year. That is resulting in extremely high prices.

• ONIONS Pacific Northwest storage onions are finishing up this week with some low-priced yellow onions and very few reds. White onions have finished.

• LIMESMarket for small sizes is in decline with the larger sizes staying steady. Quality is excellent with deep green color, minimal external defects, and less juice content.

• LETTUCES ICEBERG - Supplies of leaf and iceberg lettuces are abundant with strong numbers expected for the next two weeks. The quality continues to be up and down on a daily basis. Misshapen heads, puffiness, ribbiness, insect damage as well as mechanical are common issues. Insect pressure remains higher than average in some areas. ROMAINE / LEAF - Romaine, as well as all leaf items, are expected to have good availability for the entire week. Some common defects being reported to include fringe burn, mechanical, brittle, and some insect damage.SPRING MIX, SPINACH & BABY KALEThe baby tender leaf market continues to stay steady on spring mix, baby kale, baby spinach, and cello spinach. Quality is good.ROCKET ARUGULA / WATERCRESSBaby arugula supplies are meeting current demand. Bunched watercress quality and availability is good. Red watercress is now done.

• APPLESImported Royal Galas, Granny Smith and Fujis from Chile are now available. So far prices are holding firm and most growers believe they will stay strong throughout the season.

• BRUSSELS SPROUTS The quality has been affected by the rain and cold weather. Market continues to be in a demand exceeds supply situation.

• CELERY This market continues to be in a demand exceeds supply situation and this will continue throughout the month of May, at a minimum. Triggered pricing will continue throughoutthe month with this commodity.

• CORNThere is plenty of volume of corn in Florida. Quality is excellent. There is more availability on bicolor than on yellow or white.

• AVOCADOSWe have seen a recent strengthening in field pricing resulting in a stronger market. Meanwhile retail pricing remains high across the country keeping overall demand stable and light. • GOLD PINEAPPLES

Quality is reported as good. We are seeing solid 14+ brix reported at all the farms.

• MELONCANTALOUPES - Import: The last containers are expected to arrive on the 20th. The fruit is solid with good internal and external quality. HONEYDEWS - Local: Very light offerings as production is just getting started.

• TOMATOES EAST - Production has a good mix of all sizes allowing for more balanced pricing. There are still value buys on the smaller sized fruit that is slightly more plentiful.WEST - Mexico grown tomatoes decline in supply with just enough volume supply to meet the needs of the west coast. Duties are set at 17.56% of the value of tomatoes crossing into the US directly affecting the cost of goods.

• STONE FRUIT Production of nectarines, peaches and apricots is quickly increasing. Both tray pack and volume fill packs are available with a good range of size. Quality is being reported as very good.

= Local options available

• ASPARAGUSMarkets should continue to remain stable through the month and through June as domestic production picks up and imports calm down.

• CAULIFLOWER The cauliflower market continues to remain in a demand exceeds supply situation. Qualityis good with minor bruising and yellow cast.

• MANGOESThe crop is peaking on 10 count followed by 12 and 9 count. The larger sizes of 7 and 8count remain limited compared to the smaller sizes.

• PEARSFoodservice sizes (120ct and smaller), of Anjou and Bosc, are seeing increased demand, minimal availability, and are in few hands. Chilean and Argentinean Bartlett pears are still available.

• GRAPEFRUIT Internal and external color is nice with high brix. Product is peaking on 48/56 count.

• SPRUCE TIPS - From BC• RAMPS - From West Virginia• WHITE ASPARAGUS - From France• WILD ASPARAGUS- From France• STINGING NETTLES - From Oregon• MINERS LETTUCE- From Oregon• FIDDLEHEADS - From BC• SUMMER TRUFFLES- From Spain• BLUEFOOT - From France• MOREL MUSHROOMS - From China• ** COMING SOON ** – Fresh Porcini,

Mousseron and St. George

• EGGPLANT EAST - Eggplant supply is very tight. The supply situation has not changed in the last few weeks.WEST - Eggplant supplies are expected to continue to decrease. The market on eggplant has increased on both fancy and choice grades

• PEPPERS EAST - Pepper supply is still very tight with light supplies.WEST - Moderate and good supplies of serrano, and jalapeños. Light supplies of red and green peppers.

• CITRUS - LEMONSFoodservice sizes, 165’s and smaller remain tight. Lemons supplies continue to peak on the large sizes 75ct/95ct/115ct.

• GREEN ONIONS Green onion supply continues to be plentiful. The green onion market will continue to stay steady going into next week.

• BEANSGood supplies with good quality. Quality is very good. Wax (yellow) beans are available. Snipped bean supplies are good with good quality.

• BROCCOLI The broccoli market continues to be extremely tight. Quality is good with slight purpling, some mechanical damage, and occasional yellow cast.

• CUCUMBERS EAST - Cucumber supplies are steady. Good quality and volume.WEST - The cucumber market is steady and is expected to remain steady. Quality is good.

• WATERMELON Supplies of seedless watermelons are good. Minis have started and supplies are a little tight, but we expect production to increase next week.

• ORANGES Navels - Supply is peaking on 72/88. 56 count and larger are available. 113/138 count are in very tight supply at the moment. For Cara Cara, supplies are winding down quickly.

• BERRIES BLUEBERRIESThe market should rise slightly through the week as some but not all shippers experience lighter numbers.RASPBERRIESRaspberries continue to be in good supplies.Pricing remains steady.BLACKBERRIESMarket should still remain firm. Quality is good out of all areas.STRAWBERRIESThere were harvest disruptions and rain delays through the weekend. The market will certainly firm up as shippers gear up for the Memorial Day pull this week.

• ZUCCHINI Zucchini remains plentiful across multiple growing regions. So far, quality has been good across all the different regions. Other local regions, both east and west, will start with zucchini toward the second half of the month. Great promotional product.

• GRAPES GREEN - Green grape supplies remain extremely limited this week. Import fruit is no longer available and Mexico’s volume is not enough to fill the demand. This is an industry-wide issue. RED - Red grape supplies remain steady as we look to transition into new harvest areas.

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