Tuesday’s retail visit out to the local stores indicated nothing too out of the ordinary for this time of year. Mexican hot house product is available in large volumes with great quality, a normal trend for February. Weather continues to be a hot topic for most of North America, and while we have not seen any local shipping disruptions, there is some weather news on the horizon that may shake things up on a national level; for the West, there is an approaching cold front that will bring rain to much of CA today that will move into the desert areas over the weekend. As for the East Coast, there is a cold front moving towards the area that will bring another round of widespread freezing temperatures as far south as Florida.

Here’s what caught our eye in particular this month:

Mangoes – We saw large volumes of mangoes in each retail store; most were mixed origin from Peru and Mexico. Peru seemed to be supplying the red and tommy atkins varieties, and Mexico providing the ataulfo and manila varieties of the fruit. Experts note that demand is moderate and the market steady with trading being very active at higher prices for product out of Peru. As for Mexico, reports note that demand is still fairly light and in this early stages of production, there is a wide range in quality and appearance. Mexico production is set to reach seasonal norms around the middle of March.

Watermelon – We saw both minis and large watermelon varieties in just over 50% of the local stores, a very early start to promotions here in the Northwest. Current production is originating out of Jalisco. Experts note that watermelons are becoming in short supply due to fields running their course, but with lighter production. The northern watermelon  crop will not be in production until mid-March. Jalisco will be the main source until the spring and the market will continue to be short even with an upcoming slight increase in production. Prices remain high at the moment with experts predicting it to stay that way unless lower quality fruit enters the market.

So, that’s the on-the-ground view of what is happening in the industry at the end of February. Remember, contact our sales team today if you want to discuss any changes to buying patterns, introduction of new crops, and how we can help you with your operations and shifts in truck capacity.