Organic Market Update #204

Organic apples are winding down for the winter season, and prices are trending higher. Pepper supplies out of Mexico are ramping up, providing good promotional opportunities. Organic navel oranges from California were unaffected by the heavy rains last week and are in excellent supply.

Apples

The 2020 crop of Washington Organic Apples is firming up in price on a number of varieties, and the pack-outs are becoming more sporadic as shippers open Controlled Atmosphere storage rooms at this point in the season. Organic Gala and Honeycrisp Apples are inching up in price as the peak pack-outs are scaling back. On Honeycrisp, there is a very large spread in price between the high-color WXF Premium grade and the WXF2/USXF grades. Organic Fuji Apples are also in pretty good supply right now, providing a great opportunity to increase display space as other varieties go up in price. On a pair of the traditional varieties, here is the outlook: Organic Golden Delicious Apples are winding down for the season and will likely be out of stock by mid-February. Many Washington shippers are packing their Organic Red Delicious Apples for the conventional market to fill orders, which is pushing the price up on the organics.    

Sweet Peppers

Organic Red, Yellow, and Orange Bell Peppers are coming into much better yields out of Mexico, so pricing is starting to drop from this region into the promotable range the week of February 15th. Reds will be at the best price point. Organic Mini Sweet Peppers continue to see better production. Look for pricing to drop again and for promotional opportunities to arise in mid to late-February as the market stabilizes. Organic Specialty and Hot Pepper packs are back in stock and add a nice addition to pepper sets!

 Asparagus

New crop Mexican Organic Asparagus will become more promotable as February continues, with excellent quality.

Mangos

Organic Ataulfo Honey Mangos from Mexico are available again. Organic Kent Mangos from Peru are starting to wind down and Mexico is just starting up with Tommy Atkins. There should be no gap between the Peru and Mexico seasons.

Onions

Expect outstanding quality in all Organic Red, Yellow, White, and Sweet Onions packs and sizes. Product continues to come out of Nevada desert growing region and pricing has been steady.

Oranges

Organic Navel Oranges will continue to be in excellent supply from California. Most growers picked ahead of the heavy rains and have kept the supply moving, with 72ct and 88ct in good supply, and most of the fruit is meeting a fancy grade. Delicious pink-flesh Organic Cara Cara Oranges are in peak season supply. Pack-outs are also running mostly 72ct and 88ct with limited availability on 56ct and larger.

Grapes

Organic Red and Green Grapes from Peru are showing nice quality. Importers are finishing up on the bags during early February and moving into 10/1lb clamshells on both varieties for much of the rest of March.

Lemons

Organic Lemon supplies look to be solid going forward, with very good quality.  Most of the fruit is in the 95-115ct range, but that will change closer to March when the next growing region will peak on 140-165ct.

Blueberries

Organic Blueberries supplies from Chile are finally beginning to ramp up, but volumes will be lighter than last February’s peak. Due to cool weather, Organic Blueberries our of Mexico are very limited and expensive. Quality has been excellent on pints from both locations.

Fennel

Organic Fennel is abundant from Florida for February with great quality, with supplies also available from California.