Fresh is Everything Produce and Seasonal Trends Today What is - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Fresh is Everything…

Produce and Seasonal Trends

Today

• What is happening in the produce world

right now?

• Calendar for the year and menu planning
• Affordable seasonal produce; Fun and

creative Ideas

• Questions

The Produce World in November 2017

Transition of the major growing area from Salinas,

CA to Yuma, AZ

Normally comes with quality challenges Watch your chopped lettuce items closely; keep tight

inventory

Church Brothers: The Move

A lot of items moving offshore, which means off-DOD

Watermelon long gone Cantaloupe and Honeydew Grapes Plums Lowest point in the year for DOD availability

What is Looking Good?

Oranges Clementines (will appear on DOD December 4) Outlook for west coast vegetable items is not

totally clear, but stable at the moment:

Lettuces Broccoli Cauliflower

A Little More About Oranges

We’ve heard about Florida devastation, but

Navels Oranges primarily from CA; will there be an osmosis effect?

Price creep likely due to less acreage and yield Expect to pay more for Oranges on average for

the next 2-3 years

Window of availability may shrink Not necessarily the same impact on

Clementines

Orange Commodity Yield

Sketchy Commodities

Tomatoes

Hurricane Irma devastated Florida, and the effect is

cycling through the commodities, started with Beans, now onto Tomatoes

Consider Plum Tomatoes to save money ($0.16 per

serving versus $0.28 for round tomatoes)

Strawberries (due to be activated Dec. 4)

Scary due to Florida being unreliable If US supply gets bad, what does your distributor

do, short you?

Returning from Break

Focus on Citrus: (Oranges roughly $0.20PS; no

labor)

Kiwi: Always affordable: $0.45PS Banana Singles: $0.15PS Potatoes Jicama Tomatoes should be okay

Return from break-March

Type Feature De-Emphasize Avoid Fruit Oranges (Navel) Strawberries Grapes Fruit Clementines Melons Fruit Grapefruit, Tangelos, all Citrus Stone Fruit Veg Potatoes Celery Corn (Fresh) Veg Jicama Squash Veg Tomatoes Peppers

April-June

Type Feature De-Emphasize Avoid Fruit Strawberries Granny & Golden Apples Stone Fruit Fruit Blackberries & Blueberries Pears Fruit Melons Clementines Veg Arugula & Spinach Beets & Root Vegetables Brussels Sprouts Veg Beans Squash Veg Cauliflower & Broccoli

August-mid September

Type Feature De-Emphasize Avoid Fruit Honeydew, Cantaloupe, Watermelon Oranges (Valencia) Clementines Fruit Plums Grapefruit Granny Smith Apples Fruit Strawberries and Blueberries Pears Avocado Veg Cucumbers Beets & Root Vegetables Brussels Sprouts Veg Peppers Potatoes Asparagus Veg Squash (Yellow and Zucchini) Onions

Late-September-winter break

Type Feature De-Emphasize Avoid Fruit Golden and Granny Apples Oranges (Valencia) (go with Navels around Halloween) Blueberries Fruit Pears Stone Fruit (Plums, Peaches) Mangoes Fruit Red Grapes Strawberries Veg Squash Broccoli & Cauliflower Corn (Fresh) Veg Carrots Romaine Veg Beets & Root Vegetables Tomatoes

Conclusions

Look at your calendar in 4 blocks:

August – mid September

Menu variety Creative and exciting things for return to school Local

Late September-winter break

Heavy on Apples, still get lots of variety Pears and Grapes Be sure to wind down reliance on west coast vegetable

Return from break-March

Citrus time! Lean on Root Vegetables

April-June

Variety is back End school with a bang; try new things!

Common Threads

Fruits

Red Apple Varieties Banana Singles Kiwi Pineapples

Vegetables:

Cabbage and Kale (supplement your salads) Arcadian Harvest

Always Have A Backup Plan

Baby Kale

Full Year: Use in Salads: $0.17-$0.20 per serving

Rainbow Baby Peeled Carrots

Full Year: $0.21-$0.26 per serving

Kumquats

November-January: $0.60-$0.65 per serving

Cocktail Heirloom Tomatoes

September-October: $0.30-$0.35 per serving

Parsnips

November-May: $0.45-$0.50 per serving

Tangelos

February-April: $0.17-$0.22 per serving

Kohlrabi

February-April: $0.20-$0.25 per serving

Rainbow Cauliflower

March-May: $0.45-$0.50 per serving

Pea Pods

March-May: $0.45-$0.50 per serving

Romanesco

September, October: $0.50-$0.55 per serving

Starfruit

September-February: $0.35-$0.40 per serving

How Creative Can You Be?

Fresh is Everything…