Buyer’s Notes Week of January 15th · for diet season. Fruit eats great and looks fantastic....
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NOTES BUYER’S Buyer’s Notes Week of January 15th new • Mushrooms: NEW pack sizes coming next week! White and Crimini Button 6/6oz and White and Crimini Stuffers 6/16oz. back in stock • Romanesco returns early next week. inventory challenged • Papayas will be back early next week. gapping • Corn: Gapping for a few weeks due to insect pressure. winding down • Jazz and Opals are done for the season. Of www.earlsorganic.com Office 415.824.7419 Fax: 415.824.7819 Equal Exchange Fair Trade Avocados out of Michoacán, Mexico are eating fantastic! Equal Exchange 4x6 POS cards are now available for your retail display. Ask your Earl’s Sales Rep for more information or email our Marketing Manager directly at [email protected]. Did you know? The Hass Avocado is the most popular varietal of avocado and is named after postal worker Rudolph Hass, who purchased the seedling in 1926 from a California farmer and patented it in 1935. avocados Have you ever wondered why you can continue to enjoy Domestic Apples and Pears long after they are harvested in October/November? Growers extend the life of their fruit by keeping them in cold storage, effectively slowing down the natural aging and ripening process. As time goes on the sugar, starch and acid content changes, water is lost and the fruit withers and decays. Apples and pears are divided into either fresh or controlled atmosphere (CA) storage. Most fruit through the end of the year is taken from fresh storage where fruit is put into a chilled cellar or cooler and kept between 32 and 36 degrees F with high air humidity and some air circulation. A good comparison is your refrigerator at home. When the fresh storage runs out apples and pears will then be pulled from CA storage. Only the best quality fruit is chosen for long term CA storage. The fruit is stored in airtight coolers where they remain in a state of “sleeping” until the rooms are opened up at a predesignated time. CA is a non-chemical process where the oxygen level is reduced to about 1-2% by infusing nitrogen gas to slow down the maturation process to a near halt. Think of Sleeping Beauty under a spell and how she never aged a day until she woke up. Temperatures are kept at a consistent 32–36 degrees F with 95 percent humidity. The exact conditions of each room vary by apple and pear variety, allowing many varieties to be stored into the winter, spring and even summer months. The storage life of apples in CA can last up to 12 months and up to 10 months for pears depending on the variety. The higher the starch in the fruit, the longer it can be stored. When the apples and pears are brought out of hibernation for packing they will begin to ripen and break down quickly as starches turn to sugar again. It is best to enjoy them right away and keep them in your refrigerator until eaten. Once the CA storage of apples and pears run out, the supplies are augmented by apples and pears from the Southern Hemisphere until the season starts up again in the fall. Controlled Atmosphere Storage for Apples and Pears
Transcript of Buyer’s Notes Week of January 15th · for diet season. Fruit eats great and looks fantastic....
NOTESBUYER’S
Buyer’s Notes Week of January 15th
new• Mushrooms: NEW pack sizes coming next week! White and Crimini Button 6/6oz and White and Crimini Stuffers 6/16oz.
back in stock• Romanesco returns early next week.
inventory challenged• Papayas will be back early next week.
gapping• Corn: Gapping for a few weeks due to insect pressure.
winding down• Jazz and Opals are done for the season.
Of
BLUE: C: 66 , M: 0 , Y: 1 , K: 0GREEN: C: 92 , M: 5 , Y:96 , K: 1
www.earlsorganic.com Office 415.824.7419 Fax: 415.824.7819
Equal Exchange Fair Trade Avocados out of Michoacán, Mexico are eating fantastic! Equal Exchange 4x6 POS cards are now available for your retail display. Ask your Earl’s Sales Rep for more information or email our Marketing Manager directly at [email protected]. Did you know? The Hass Avocado is the most popular varietal of avocado and is named after postal worker Rudolph Hass, who purchased the seedling in 1926 from a California farmer and patented it in 1935.
avocados
Have you ever wondered why you can continue to enjoy Domestic Apples and Pears long after they are harvested in October/November? Growers extend the life of their fruit by keeping them in cold storage, effectively slowing down the natural aging and ripening process. As time goes on the sugar, starch and acid content changes, water is lost and the fruit withers and decays. Apples and pears are divided into either fresh or controlled atmosphere (CA) storage. Most fruit through the end of the year is taken from fresh storage where fruit is put into a chilled cellar or cooler and kept between 32 and 36 degrees F with high air humidity and some air circulation. A good comparison is your refrigerator at home. When the fresh storage runs out apples and pears will then be pulled from CA storage.
Only the best quality fruit is chosen for long term CA storage. The fruit is stored in airtight coolers where they remain in a state of “sleeping” until the rooms are opened up at a predesignated time. CA is a non-chemical process where the oxygen level is reduced to about 1-2% by infusing nitrogen gas to slow down the maturation process to a near halt. Think of Sleeping Beauty under a spell and how she never aged a day until she woke up. Temperatures are kept at a consistent 32–36 degrees F with 95 percent humidity. The exact conditions of each room vary by apple and pear variety, allowing many varieties to be stored into the winter, spring and even summer months. The storage life of apples in CA can last up to 12 months and up to 10 months for pears depending on the variety. The higher the starch in the fruit, the longer it can be stored.
When the apples and pears are brought out of hibernation for packing they will begin to ripen and break down quickly as starches turn to sugar again. It is best to enjoy them right away and keep them in your refrigerator until eaten. Once the CA storage of apples and pears run out, the supplies are augmented by apples and pears from the Southern Hemisphere until the season starts up again in the fall.
Controlled Atmosphere Storage for Apples and Pears
Apples: We are starting to see Controlled Atmosphere(CA) apples from Washington. Traditionally it is the strongest fruit that is kept under CA. There are still plenty of opportunities to promote apples out of the Pacific Northwest. Braeburns, Cameos, Envy, Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Pacific Rose, Piñata and Pink Lady are available with steady supply, great flavor, excellent quality and condition and the lowest prices we have seen the last few years. Honeycrisp will be back with good supply on Monday and we expect them to be available all the way to February. Cuyama Orchards from Santa Barbara County still has plenty to offer. Their super sweet Fuji and beautiful Pink Ladys are available in tray pack and bags.
Avocados:The Big Game is only 2 weeks away! Now is the time for your team to kick off creative thinking about your display. Look for our flyer with BIG specials on Equal Exchange Fair Trade avocados and more—Sunday morning in your inbox.
Bananas:Plenty of Coliman Bananas with color as we head into the weekend.
Berries:Blackberries: Rancho Don Antonio Blackberries are under hoops and there is still some production. The majority is still out of Mexico and the quality continues to impress. Up to now this has turned out to be a very good “off season” berry year. Blueberries: California Blueberry production remains strong with Santa Maria to the Ventura area in production. Rancho Don Antonio will be back with blueberries next week. Strawberries: The Salinsas, Watsonville and Santa Cruz, “local” Strawberry deal is essentially over with the rains and cold weather. The majority of production is transferring to Oxnard, Orange County and Baja. Raspberries are coming out of Guadalajara, Mexico. Berries are a nice bright red color with good flavor.
– FRUIT –Citrus:
This is the best week so far this year to promote Navels. Excellent sugar content along with promotable prices and volume are making them a very attractive item to promote. Size is peaking in bigger fruit this year so best opportunities are 40ct.Cara Cara are in good supply also peaking in big sizes.Moro Blood Oranges are available in limited numbers. We expect better supply to be available at the end of the month.Early Sweets Valencias from Mexico are in good supply, however, trucking from Nogales AZ is very challenged due to the implementation of the ELD. If you missed the Electronic Logging Mandate update you can read it here:http://bit.ly/2lTdqPxLemons are now mostly coming out of the Coastal regions of San Diego County with excellent quality.Persian Lime market is moving up in price as the old crop finishes and the new crop is just now starting. We expect a stronger market for the Big Game. Advance booking highly advisable. Meyer Lemons are abundant and cheap. Great time to promote.High color Star Ruby Grapefruit is in great supply just in time for diet season. Fruit eats great and looks fantastic.Minneola Tangelos are offering very good flavor right from the beginning. Mandarins are still limited and low volume of Gold Nuggets are available this week. We expect Tangos and Murcotts for next week.Buddha Hands, Kishus and Nagami Kumquats will be available in low numbers next week.Pummelos are in good supply and are expected to be available for lunar New Year promotions
Grapes: Very limited production of Import Grapes from Peru, however the Red Seedless Sweet Celebration on hand has extraordinary flavor and is very crunchy! This is probably the last week we will have them available. Enjoy them while you can!
Melons: Galia from Baja California are now available. Mini Seedless expected to be back the first week of march from Mexico.
Pears:Great supply of D’Anjou, Bosc and Comice. Limited numbers in Red D’Anjou. Import Bartletts expected in March. Biodynamic Pears from Mt. Hood Organics down to only Bosc and D’Anjou but still in good supply with great quality and condition.
Tropicals:Kent Mangoes from Perú are in very good supply. Quality is excellent. Good numbers in Pineapples from Costa Rica this week! Thai Coconut are very limited for the next few weeks.
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BLUE: C: 66 , M: 0 , Y: 1 , K: 0GREEN: C: 92 , M: 5 , Y:96 , K: 1
www.earlsorganic.com Office 415.824.7419 Fax: 415.824.7819
– VEG –
Ellwood Canyon Farm Update:Ellwood is slowing down. Next week will be the last week of promotable Nantes Carrots. Ellwood will be in larger volumes of Snap and English Peas next week. We will be carrying their beautiful Bunched Herbs in a bigger way.
Asparagus from Ocean Mist will return next earlynext week.
Covilli Green Bean 15# Cases and Brussels Sprouts 10# cases are plentiful! Do not forget the easy grab-and-go Green Beans and Brussels Sprouts Bags also from Covilli!
Cabbage: Red, Green and Savoy Cabbage from Goldie is really pretty.
Cucumbers: Availability is loosening up but prices arestill high.
Eggplant: Supply is steady.
Greens: We expect more Kale from Tomatero as long asthe rain holds off.
Little Red and Green Gems from The Garden of… will be more consistent starting next week.
Bell Peppers: Seeing a flush in the market of all Colored Bells but cooler weather is coming in. Will not gap but availability may not be as abundant over the next few weeks.
Onions: Red and White Spring Onions from Terra Firma are beautiful. Cipollini Onions arriving end of next week.
Tomatoes: Covilli Heirloom Tomatoes are absolutely gorgeous! Prices are down and super promotable. Roma pricing has lowered, Beefsteak are still high and Cluster Tomatoes continue to be tight.
Winter Squash: Talk to your Earl’s Sales rep about bringing in a bin of Johnston Family Farm Butternut Winter Squash! Covilli Acorn and Delicata Squash looks very nice! Other squash varieties available are Kabocha, Spaghetti and Sugar Pie Pumpkins.
Market Update Growing regions of Mexico have experienced cooler than desired weather, which has slowed down production.
As of right now, we do not see that disrupting supply.
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BLUE: C: 66 , M: 0 , Y: 1 , K: 0GREEN: C: 92 , M: 5 , Y:96 , K: 1
www.earlsorganic.com Office 415.824.7419 Fax: 415.824.7819
