Beef
The Price declines during last month have been broad based, with all the major primals losing ground. Since March 21, the round primal has declined 6.6%, chucks down 5.5%, loins down 5.9% and ribs down 8.2%.
April 26, 2024
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Market Headlines
Poultry
Breasts evened out this week. Wings demand has strengthened. Tenders demand is strong and tenders remain the hardest offering to find. Dark meat demand remains very good. Whole birds are mostly balanced.
Pork
Butts continue to move up faster than predicted. Demand for butts continues to increase and will continue as we get closer to the holiday. Ribs are flat next week as demand as subdued the time being. Loins are also moving up due to retail interest and strong exports. Demand for bellies remains strong and the market continues to be volatile.
Beef
Ribs and tenders remain soft, as buyers use caution keeping purchasing windows tight. Strips and top butts, though under same pressure. End cuts, insides and chucks, continue coming under pressure from buyer bids. With increased harvest the support to thin meats seems to be slowing. Grinds continue mixed due to an irregular supply and expected improvement in demand.
Dairy
Shell egg markets are all down and demand has softened. Cage-free supplies have surged by 22.2% over the past four weeks, despite significant production disruptions caused by the bird flu. The Block & Barrel are increasing and steady. Butter is down and Butter makers indicate both salted and unsalted production is taking place.
Grains / Oil
Soybean oil futures moved almost 5% lower last week with good harvest data coming from South America, good planting conditions in the US, and soybean oil stocks building. Canola futures in CA moved lower, keeping step with soybean oil, and exports are low. Palm is finally giving back ground due to soy prices.
Seafood
While food service sales remained stable during the Lent season, escalating labor, energy, and other operational costs have led to an increase in prices. This poses a challenge to sustaining sales throughout the year. Post the Lent season, the anticipated surge in summer demand is expected to stimulate shrimp sales.
To learn more contact your local Sales Consultant. Market Corner Produce information reflects both U.S. and Canadian markets. All other commodity information is based on U.S. market data only.
Produce Market Updates
Vegetables
Asparagus
Peru volume has increased, Mexico is slightly lower, and local production underway. West market slightly higher but should steady out. East market slightly lower.
Bell Peppers – Alert
East – Green supply strong, quality is good, demand good and Market steady. Red and yellow bells easy to get, quality good, and markets lower.
West – Growing region shift taking place this week. Quality is excellent with dark green color and thick walls. Red peppers are lighter supplies with some reported quality issues, market slightly higher.
Broccoli
Weather and cooler night temps are still low and slowing production and keeping supplies on the lighter side, growers just keeping up with demand. Market steady.
Cabbage
Supplies and quality good on both red and green. Market mostly steady on both.
Cauliflower
Market higher as cooler weather continues to limit growth, lowering yields, and demand is beginning to exceed supplies.
Cilantro/Parsley
Cilantro market steady on decent supplies. Market steady on curly but flat is active as supplies are tight, expect demand to exceed supplies for the next couple of weeks.
Corn
East – Corn supply lighter, demand good, market stronger, and quality good.
West – Moderate supplies out of Imperial Valley, good demand, market steady.
Lettuce & Romaine
Both Lettuce and Romaine are seeing an industry–wide quality issues that have push markets back up. Expecting tight supplies to the end of the month.
Onions – Red Alert
Availability continues to improve on jumbo and medium yellows, but larger sizes are limited. Rain in Texas has slowed down the harvest. Reds are limited in supply from all areas and will remain so for another few weeks. Whites are in good supply.
Peppers Chillies
East – Chili pepper is a tight item – South Florida has finished up and Georgia has not started yet; limited availability resulting in higher markets.
West – Demand exceeds with no relief for 2–3 weeks, most affected are Serrano and Jalapeno.
Potatoes – Russets
Supplies are very light on 40–50 ct from most suppliers. 90–120 ct are plentiful. This now looks to be the case through the summer months. Demand is following supply accordingly. Prices are steady on large and lower on smaller sizes.
Tomatoes – Round Alert
Rounds remain on alert status both east and west due to lack of availability. Roma markets are escalating due to a lack of availability both east and west. Grape & cherry markets are stable with normal demand.
Squash
East – Yellow squash and Zucchini has started in South Georgia. Most shippers are finished in Florida. Volume is very heavy on Zucchini and on the lighter side on Yellow Squash.
West – Moderate supply and demand. Market is slightly higher for zucchini, yellow lower others steady.
Fruit
Avocado
Pricing on large fruit continues to climb as growers are pushing for higher prices ahead of the Cinco holiday.
Citrus – Alert
Lemons –Alert– There’s a significant shortage of small-sized lemons, with crops mainly in sizes 75’s, thru 115’s. San Joaquin Valley lemon crops are ending, and all supply mainly comes from Coastal California.
Oranges –Alert– Navel Oranges: Supply remains low, especially for small and medium sizes, as the season nears its end with (2-3 weeks left) for most shippers. The transition to Valencia oranges brings more large-sized fruits in San Joaquin Valley but Riverside will have medium and small sizes.
Limes – The stage of the new crop, 70–80 % of volume is in small sizes: 230’s/250’s.
Besides it being a new crop, during this time of the year we have very high temperatures and minimal to no rain in harvesting regions, which is slowing growth.
Grapes – Alert
Slight relief in the market due to supply volumes that arrived as expected and planned. Situation remains fluid as strategic inventory based on quality of fruit and volume to hold through till mid May Mexican supplies arrive.
Pineapple
Volume will remain tight for another 2–3 weeks on large sizes. Climate was not allowing for fruit to mature as soon as expected. The market will remain tight for another 2–3 weeks. No logistics delays expected.
