
PRO*ACT Crop Update: Growing season during the coldest week of winter
The coldest week of the winter growing season is underway in the Arizona-California desert. Lettuce ice is causing harvesting and loading delays. While current quality remains strong across many commodities, conditions such as blistering, epidermal peeling and slower growth are expected to increase in February.
Despite repeated lettuce ice events in the Arizona-California desert growing region, supplies of green leaf, iceberg, and romaine remain abundant. Harvesters trim back defective outer layers, resulting in lower case weights but excellent quality.
Demand remains weak post-holiday, and pricing is still steady at lower levels. We expect markets to pick up as continued cold weather and ice events impact production.
The avocado market remains in a demand-exceeds-supply situation. Mexican harvests resumed last week but have yet to stabilize the supply pipeline fully, and we are still experiencing size and grade substitutions. Markets are elevated, with allocations industry wide. Supply should begin to normalize in the coming weeks, but tight conditions will persist in the short-term leading up to the Super Bowl.
The melon market remains fragile. Although cantaloupe availability has slightly improved, supplies remain limited. Current arrivals show good external quality with strong netting. Honeydews faces the tightest supply conditions, with demand far exceeding supply. Flexibility in sizing may be necessary to receive allocations on orders. Honeydew shortages will likely persist well into February. Seedless watermelons are in much better supply, and we recommend substituting until the market can stabilize in early March when second-cycle production in Guatemala begins.