February Fruit(s) of the Month We are happy to present two delectable fruits for the month of February: Cara

Cara Oranges available thru Feb and the delicate and delicious Lemon Plum for the second half. The sweet and tangy cara cara is one to try now for sure!

marketnotes marketnotes
produce market report Feb. 5, 2013

Worth a Look
Avocado prices have improved. Quality is outstanding with great fruit shipping from Mexico. Cantaloupe and honeydew melons are coming in from points south like Guatemala and Costa Rica . Cantaloupes have more favorable pricing and honeydews are up just slightly. Strawberries are hitting their stride out of Florida and they are a good buy with high quality and plentiful availability. Demand for stem strawberries will be high for Valentines Day. Order ahead. Citrus growers in California and Arizona are happy to report that volumes are predictable and quality for navel oranges and lemons are at the highest of the season. Meyer lemons from Sunkist in California are available. These are great for baking. Florida is the source of beautiful green beans this week. Prices are down for yellow wax beans and cranberry beans as well. Blackberries are, once again, in the good buy column with good supplies from Chile.

Cara Cara oranges are so delicious and juicy. This is a high quality piece of fruit and the sugar content is amazing! Good prices now. Florida is pumping nicely and we are still getting awesome citrus from them like grapefruit and tangerines. Blood oranges are exceptional right now with a tangy goodness that perks up all kinds of food from duck to fish and the garnish is eyepopping! Tomatoes are extremely inexpensive right now. They are coming out of Florida in great abundance, color and flavor Asparagus prices dropped significantly this week. Peru is shipping in large quantities now and they are trying to get their best product to market before Mexico starts shipping their crops. Broccoli and broccoli crowns have dropped significantly in price with warmer temperatures out west. Cauliflower is a good buy right now too.

Worth a Look
Avocados Strawberries Blackberries Cara Cara Oranges Navel oranges Grapefruit and tangerines Lemons Cantaloupes and honeydews Blood oranges Tomatoes Asparagus Green beans Wax and cranberry beans Broccoli and broccoli crowns Cauliflower

Keep in Mind:
Blueberries are coming in very predictably with nice plumpness and good healthy eating and flavor from Chile. Dont forget to order peaches, red plums, nectarines and apricots from Chile. They are here with abundance, now and this stone fruit is really nice quality. Red currants will be back in stock just in time for putting some pizzazz back in dreary winter days. There is usually a three week gap, but they are on their way now. We are seeing no problems (for a change) with brussell sprouts.

Sweet potatoes are hot right now and we are shipping them from local sources in North Carolina and New Jersey. They represent the perfect combination of healthy good eating, buying local for less! Green leaf, boston and red leaf lettuce supplies have finally begun to modulate. We should see better prices soon. Some good news on rapini and aspiration quantities. Suppliers expect availability to improve greatly in the near future. Celery prices have spiked again with demand. Green onions and scallions are active along with leeks. Both curly parsley and Italian parsley have relaxed a bit. Cilantro is much higher than normal. Grapes remain on the high side for the next week or so. We should see some relief next week when the Mexican producers start entering the market bringing Chile a little competition.

Watch
Romaine and romaine hearts are still super high in price and the markets remain active. The frost-bitten effects of epidural peeling and blistering are still issues for us and our shippers. Baby spinach remains very, very tight but that is starting to change and we are finding in just the last few days that we could get it more readily. Some good news on the more delicate greens: de-stemmed spinach and California arugula have slipped back down in price as the recent weather has been more normal. Artichokes are heavily frosted but we have some are back in stock. Raspberries are in a prorated situation and very hard to get.

Keep in Mind
Sweet potatoes Peaches, plums and apricots Blueberries Green and red leaf Rapini and Aspiration Brussels sprouts

WATCH
Romaine and romaine hearts Baby spinach Celery Green onions and leeks Grapes Raspberries

Keany Produce Company | 3310 75th Avenue | Landover, MD 20785 | 301-772-3333 | FAX: 301-772-3469 Visit us on the web at: www.keanyproduce.com