This time of year is always a busy season in the supermarkets. Retailers are looking for big volumes to fill the demand and promotions for this time of year. On the last Tuesday of November, we headed out for our monthly retail visits. Here’s what we saw to kick off the holiday season:

Cucumbers: Most stores have now switched to hothouse product originating from Mexico, but a few had some remaining Canadian product in the mix. The cucumber market is steady with production from Sonora, MX noted as adequate barring any weather issues. Product from this region is making up for the affected Baja production that was hampered by storm damage. Experts note that Sinaloa production should start next week. As for the East, Florida has a good supply of domestic product that should last until off-shore imports start around mid-December.

Hot House Tomatoes: All stores are still showing favor towards the domestic Canadian market. Experts note as of this week, demand for product out of Western MX is strong, but supply remains low. Southern CA will be finishing up by the end of this week as well, which will send retailers to Mexico for all their Western product. Growing regions in Mexico are experiencing reduced yields due to normal seasonal decline and past weather issues. Experts predict availability to remain tight until late December.

All other product in the stores is running its predictable course of movement and origin. Mexico is dominating the avocado market, red and green seedless grapes are mostly coming from California, and of course Eastern Washington is winning the apple and pear game at the moment.

We’ll be taking a break from our store visits for December, but will be back at the end of January with more market news on buying patterns and introduction of any news crops. Until then, feel free to contact us to discuss how we can help you with your operations and any shifts in truck capacity.