Organic Market Update #250

Week 1, 2022

Apples

January will be an excellent time to get behind a variety of premium snacking Organic Apples and Organic Apples for juicing and smoothies. Promotional opportunities are available for January on the popular Organic Envy and Opal Apple varieties. Organic Cosmic Crisp, Pinata, and SugarBee Apples are also winners for the snacking enthusiasts.  One challenge affecting Organic Apples is the expensive freight rates and lack of track availability loading in Washington.

Greens and Lettuces

Organic Greens, Cabbages, Bok Choy, Leaf Lettuces, and more from Florida are in peak production, in time for “diet season.” Quality is outstanding. Demand has increased as consumers look to refill their refrigerators with healthier options to start the year. Organic Romaine Hearts and Iceberg Lettuce from SoCal are in stable supplies. Pricing and supply volumes are expected to remain stable through January.

Tomatoes

Organic Grape Tomatoes, including Organic Cherry and Rainbow Cherry varieties from Florida continue to be promotable as quality has been excellent, and supplies steady.  Organic Cluster Tomatoes will be promotable through early January as growers from Mexico and Canada continue to harvest strong supplies on excellent quality. Organic Fair Trade is coming back into season with Organic Heirloom Tomato and Organic Darkloom Tomato programs in early January. Organic Roma Tomato prices remain strong for early January, as supplies are better, but limited production to drive the price back down.

Peppers

Organic Color Bell Peppers remain in steady supply, with Mexican product expected to have strong production to kick off the year. Expect strong supplies and promotional opportunities throughout January. Organic Mini Sweet Peppers continue to see consistent supplies out of Florida. Product out of Mexico is strengthening for the start of the year

Citrus

December rains throughout California impacted the growers’ ability to pick Organic Citrus, and for the citrus to mature to the ideal ripeness. Disruption during the holidays also has growers playing catchup to start off January, leading to less-than-ideal fill rates for the first two weeks of the new year. Organic Navel Oranges will be limited while other varieties, Organic Mandarins, and Blood and Cara Cara Oranges, will have significant gaps in supply until harvests can catch up mid-month. The good news is that the crop is not so much damaged as delayed, and there will be a peak season for California Organic Citrus ramping up again for mid-January and beyond.

Salads

Organic Salads could be in for a bumpy ride as cool temps out west, particularly at night, have slowed growth and growers have been cutting product 10 days ahead of normal. Occasional prorates or out-of-stocks can be expected for early January.

Celery

Organic Celery is in steady supply for the beginning of the year, as northern production will begin to move south to Yuma, AZ, El Centro, CA, and Mexico. Pricing is stable but increases to the total cost of goods are expected as freight rates are up sharply.

Sweet Potatoes

Organic Sweet Potato quality continues to be excellent out of California, but pricing is up as growers are into their storage crop and freight rate increases. There is a gap in supply on both the 18/1lb Organic Baby Sweet Potato Mix trays and the 12/2ct Organic Sweet Potatoes due to supply shortages on the trays, which is expected to improve by mid-January.

Freight Rates

The cost per case to bring fresh produce from the growing regions to the marketplace continues to skyrocket. Between Christmas and New Year’s, many over-the-road truck drivers take the week off for the holidays. Additionally, poor weather across the Cascades, Sierras, and Rockies has delayed truck availability, on top of an already tight truck market across the country. The most difficult regions to find carriers to get product filled have been South Texas, Florida, and Washington. There have been quotes $4,000-5,000 higher than usual per load from these regions recently, which drives up the cost of produce for consumers.