Ben Bocci's Produce News... March 13th - March 19th, 2010

PRICE CHANGES THIS WEEK!

TOMATOES:  We always see a lot of unusual things going on when produce markets jump way up or drop way down and this week is no exception when it comes to tomatoes. With retail causing the markets to jump up when tomato supplies got scarce the supply was slowed down as purchasing slowed down because of the high prices. Two major fast food companies quit serving tomatoes and one of the largest users in the nation cut their usage by 1/3 – and that alone was a lot of tomatoes. This week we are seeing the 25 lb. cartons going down a little in price, although they are still very high. The extra large are down $2, large are down $5 and mediums are down $5. The No.2 red round tomatoes are down $2 and No.2 Romas are down $8. The 25 lb. Utility pak is down $4. Both , the grape and cherry tomatoes are up $3. The No.1 pak Romas are down $7. The 4X5 2 layer vineripes are down $14. 

LETTUCE:.  The lettuce market is down a little this week as supplies are backed up a little because of high prices. Romaine is down $1. Red leaf, green leaf and butter lettuce are all down $1. Iceberg lettuce is steady in price so far this week although we haven’t had the “Snoboy” label in for a while. The same goes for the leaf items/

PEPPERS:  Another short item, green bells still advancing in price. The large are up $1 and mediums are up $2. Quality has been just fair, so don’t buy too far in advance on green bells. The passillas are down $1. Jalapenos are up $1 in the 10 lb. pak and the 40 lb. jalapenos are up $2.. Anaheim peppers are down $2.  The 10 lb. red bells (item #140511) are up$2.50, The 25 lb. chopper red bells are up $4. The 15 lb. No.1 yellow bells are up $2. 

ASPARAGUS:  The 11 lb. cartons of standard (pencil) size asparagus is up $3 and the large is up $2. Both sizes are from California now and look really nice. As the volume increases out of California I expect the price to come down some and then we will start local asparagus out of Northern Washington.

MELONS: The 8/9 count honeydews are up $2.50 and the 5/6 counts are up $1.50 this week. Watermelon is down $3 out of Mexico and the color and flavor is really nice. I cut some up for our 2nd  Thursday Open House last week and the flavor was terrific!

GRAPES: The red seedless regular bunch grapes are up another $2. The “Lunch Bunch” red seedless grapes are up another $10 and I would call the quality just fair. I wasn’t excited over the last couple of receivings and I won’t be surprised if they are out of stock for a while. The earthquake isn’t the only problem with grape and other shipments out of Chile. There has been cold weather that has slowed down growth and wiped out some areas of crops. Your salesperson will keep you up on grape quality.

VEGETABLES: English cucumbers are up $1. The 36 count regular cucumbers are down $1. Green beans out of Mexico are up $4 in the 15 lb. carton. .

WHAT’S NEW? WHAT’S IN SEASON?

COLLARD GREENS:  We have a new pak of locally grown collard greens in stock from Big B Farms in Aurora Oregon (near the branch!) and they are very nice. There are 24 bunches in the box (item #529249) and we also offer a 6 count split (item #538574). These fresh greens would make a very nice braised green to serve with a Certified Angus Beef steak. I grew up just frying them in some olive oil and adding a little salt and pepper. My uncle Guido raised a lot of different greens on his farm and kale and collards hold up the best in cooking. Others such as mustard greens or turnip tops cook down a lot and get soft, but collards hold up well. Try some this week – add a nice braised or fried green to your special! 

MARCH 11th – FIRST THURSDAY: We had a terrific time at our open house this last Thursday (March 11th) and if you didn’t have a chance to make it I hope you can come to our next open house 2nd Thursday on April 8th! Ask your salesperson about it!

DINING OUT IN THE NORTHWEST: I hope to see you at our 2nd great foodshow of the season at the Oregon Convention Center in downtown Portland. There will be four distinct parts to it and I’m sure that you’ll find that every section of the show will be of interest to you. We will have several hourly presentations that I know you will profit from and I will be doing an hourly demonstration on fresh produce storage and handling that will put more profit in your pocket and allow you to offer a better product to your customers. The show runs from 10 AM to 3 PM this Thursday (March 18th) and please bring as many of your staff as you can – I know that everyone will enjoy the show. As a side note – please bring you children if you wish because the show will have a lot of colors and fun things to see and because we’re a family here at Food Services of America we believe that your family is just as important – and the parking is free by the way, so don’t worry about that hassle.        

FINAL THOUGHT: We’ve got a big foodshow happening this week and between getting ready for it and visiting customers this week I can really look forward to the car parts swap meet this Saturday (March 20th) at Vancouver Bolt and Supply in downtown Vancouver Washington. Besides the fact that it’s just down the street from me, CJ puts on a great time for everybody as he graciously turns over all of his facility and parking lot as we start showing up at 5:30 or 6 AM in the morning to spread out our good stuff (not Kat’s term for it) and visit with old friends, make new friends and basically do a lot of bench racing. Stop by if you have some time – it goes from about 7AM to about 1 or 2PM in the afternoon. Surprise your spouse or friend with a new carb or fender! 

Have a fresh week!

Ben Bocci (“Broccoli Ben”) Produce Specialist   503-980-2589