Organic Market Update: Sept. 20-Sept. 27
Top-notch grapes and seasonal kiwi berries arrive. Organic produce gaps for broccoli rabe and citrus. Read more in this week's organic market update.
September 23, 2024
Grapes
Peak season is here for Organic Grapes from California. Top notch quality, excellent supply—some of the best eating Organic Grape varieties are being harvested right now through mid-October! We are seeing very high brix (sugars) on Organic Red and Black varieties as of right now with crisp texture and healthy stems. Varieties available in late September: “Adora” and “Autumn Royal” Black Organic Grapes, “Autumn Crisp” and “Stella Bella” Green Organic Grapes, “Scarlet Royals” Red Organic Grapes.
Broccoli
Pennsylvania Organic Stalk Broccoli will be available in limited quantities. Organic Broccoli from California remains in steady supply despite a continued elevated cost. Quality and availability are good. Costs are expected to ease slightly in late September and into early October. Organic Broccoli Crowns, however, remain elevated in cost and limited in availability. Quebec-grown product will be available as a supplementary option. Organic Broccoli Rabe will experience an outright gap in availability for the final week of September and the first week of October due to quality issues preventing growers from harvesting. Organic Sweet Baby Broccoli will remain available, although it will be limited and at a premium cost.
Tomatoes
Greenhouse Organic Tomatoes from Quebec have started but some of the projections were off slightly. Early October is when the full line-up of items will be in stock. Pennsylvania Organic Snacking Tomatoes are starting to finish up and will be switching to new crop Florida product.
Apples
New crop Washington Organic Gala and Honeycrisp Apples are in excellent supply. The first Washington Organic Granny Smith Apples are now available. Supplies are expected to improve weekly through fall. New crop Organic SweeTango Apples will be back in good supply starting September 23. The first new crop Organic Fuji Apples from Washington are expected for the last week of September. Supplies are expected to be firm for the first few weeks until the pipeline fills. The first Canadian Organic Ambrosia are expected to begin around October 10. Canadian Organic McIntosh Apples came and went unexpectedly due to the apples being excessively small. They are not expecting any more large fruit to be imported this season. Import and old crop Organic Pink Lady Apples are winding down for the season and expected to gap before new crop Washington appples will start in November.
Kiwi Berries
Organic Kiwi Berries are now in season through mid-October! This seasonal favorite will be available in a clamshell option. Organic Kiwi Berries are ready to eat when ripened to soft. The berry is eaten whole. These can be merchandised at room temperature while they ripen, or in your refrigerated berry set for shoppers to ripen at home.
Purple Sweet Potatoes
Both Organic Stokes Purple and Ben Yagi Sweet Potatoes in all packs and sizes are back in season from California with new crop harvests. It's time to add these varietals back into sets.
Citrus
Organic Grapefruit from South Africa are in season with nice quality on 27ct and 9/3lb bags. Organic Lemons are currently available from Argentina, Mexico and California. All regions are showing different quality and prices. This market is very unstable right now. The Organic Valencia Orange season is over. Organic Navel Oranges will start in mid-October from California. There will be no ads or promotions for the month of September and into October on Organic Limes. Keep your sets small as prices will be extremely high with a shortened shelf-life and fair to poor quality.
Berries
Organic Strawberries will be promotable for late September as harvests from Northern California and Santa Maria overlap, leading to a surplus. Pricing has dropped tremendously to move the excess volume. This “mini flush” is expected to only last a week or two before the Northern district ends and supplies trend downward very quickly for the fall and winter months. Quality has been excellent with good-tasting fruit. Organic Raspberry pricing will begin coming down as harvests begin to increase out of Baja and Central Mexico. Volume is expected to ramp up into October. Quality has been excellent. Organic Blackberries will be limited out of California heading into October as the season finishes. Central Mexico production is slowly increasing but demand will continue to exceed supplies. Quality has been excellent with few defects. Organic Blueberries will be extremely limited as demand continues to exceed supplies. Pro-rates and gaps are expected in September. Peruvian volume is expected to start arriving in early October, but pricing will remain extremely high. Quality on what is arriving now has been excellent