Beef
Ribs and tenders will be the craze post–Thanksgiving holiday! We have inventory in the building and aged to perfection for the upcoming holiday party menus.
November 17, 2023
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Market Headlines
Poultry
The chicken industry is in peak growing season and bigger birds with more product is the result. Breasts have started to tighten. Tenders are available. Wings of all sizes demand has softened slightly. Dark meat demand remains solid. Whole birds are mostly steady.
Pork
Demand for pork is still down, although there is some counter seasonal movement with butts. Both B/I and boneless butts increased for next week with some renewed interest. Ribs are trading sideways now but should begin to shift downwards. Loins are down as demand is weak. Bellies are also still trending down as they search for the floor.
Beef
After two weeks of large harvests and a reduction in the overall cutout, packers have scaled back production. Insides, chuck rolls and the grind complex lead the downward trend in the beef market for the week. Interest in beef is seasonally lackluster headed into the turkey rich Thanksgiving holiday. Upper 2/3 or CAB product remains in a well sold position across the animal.
Dairy
Shell egg markets are up this week. Barrel & Block market is decreasing. Butter is down. November Cream and Culture pricing will reflect price increases.
Grains / Oil
Futures finished last week on a high note, but overall averaged the week slightly lower. The USDA WASDE report did little to influence the direction of the market. South American crop progress is slow as dryness continues. Canola seed moved higher, coming off of six–week lows. Palm is higher with El Nino concerns.
Seafood
Peru reportedly just re–opened their 2nd anchovy season 3 days ago; supply remains tight. The imported shrimp market is still experiencing historic lows, but prices are expected to level off soon. The Tilapia market is plateauing, after inventory challenges. Going into the holidays, expect increased usage on shellfish items.
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
Supply is meeting demand and pricing remains steady. Sizing out of Mexico is heavy to standard with fewer large and jumbo. Peru is also heavier to standard.
Broccoli
Market elevated as the growers manage the transition imbalance with Salinas ahead of schedule and Yuma is a bit behind.
Cabbage – Green & Red
Supplies and quality good on both red and green. Market mostly steady on both.
Cauliflower
Moderate demand and markets mostly steady. Yuma plantings are behind – expected to startup end of the week markets are expected to remain snug until supplies out of Yuma improve.
Celery
Thanksgiving demand is keeping this market active and pricing elevated, supplies are snug this week.
Cilantro/Parsley
Cilantro and Parsley supplies and overall quality look good. Market is holding mostly steady for both.
Green Beans – Alert
East – Bean supplies remain extremely limited. Holiday demand is strong. Some new areas are about to start. The market is very high, the quality is better. Could see some relief early next week on supply and pricing.
West – Extreme shortage expected to last through December, due to Mexican hurricane aftereffects and light supplies from the desert.
Lettuce & Romaine
Market active with supply still from now multiple growing regions for lettuce. Good volume and quality this week on Romaine and market holding steady. Hearts, seeing active markets supplies are a little tighter.
Mushrooms – Brown
We are off alert for brown mushrooms. Still a few spotted instances where demand exceeds supplies, but nothing now out of the ordinary. The overall market remains steady.
Onions
Demand is up due to large holiday pulls. Markets increased this week.
Peppers Red & Yellow – Alert
Green bells on both coast a little lighter quality reported as good, with the market steady to higher. Red and yellow peppers on east coast are extremely short in supplies and snug on the west coast.
Potatoes
Supplies are good. Availability is good for all sizes. Prices have decreased slightly on smaller sizes as sheds are running smaller sized lots due to retail holiday demand.
Snap & Snow Peas
Market active on both snap and snow as supplies are limited. Snap peas demand exceeds supplies, and snow peas are struggling to meet demand.
Squash
East – Zucchini and yellow squash supplies lighter; quality is good and markets stronger. Demand is very good.
West – Supply has decreased due to cool weather in growing regions. Market is significantly higher; quality is reported as good.
Tomatoes
Round and cherry markets remain stable with good availability and quality out east. Roma markets could increase as the week progresses due to low availability out of MX & FL. Grape markets are on alert status due to extremely low availability which continues to escalate the market.
Fruit
Avocado – Alert
Volume is beginning to improve, and market is stable on larger sizes and smaller at lower levels. #2 fruit continues to be short in supply.
Citrus – Alert
Lemons Alert – Market remains high but supplies are getting better this week out of the desert and Central Cal. Peaking on 140s, 115s, 165s and 95s.
Oranges Alert – Navel season is underway and off to a challenging start for the season.
Delayed harvest & early rain showers has created some gap in supply and not meeting the current demand.
Limes Alert – The overall volume is approx. 20-30% lower in comparison to last year, but overall demand for this time of the year is lower, allowing the market to stabilize and no issues through November. Expect an increase in prices for December in response to the increase in demand.
Grapes
Steady with slight market increase on green coming into play with less volume available. Reds expected to follow suit next week. Quality is only fair at best.
Pineapple
Volume is returning to normal. Market prices have begun moving up with the coming Thanksgiving demand.
