It’s that time of the year again. If you are one of the lucky ones on holiday vacation, you may find yourself adrift on the indefinable and interminable dates between December 25th and January 1st. But don’t panic.
Your weekly market highlights are here to pull you out of your Christmas candy-induced vortex and back into the land of produce news.
The ProduceIQ Index finishes the year showcasing a continued yet flattening rate of inflation. The produce industry appears to reflect the broader economy by continuing to have slightly higher prices for another year. Fresh produce prices have more than doubled since the Index registered at $0.68 for this same week in 2005.
ProduceIQ Index: $1.39/pound, – down 2.1 percent over prior week
Week #52, ending December 27th
Blue Book has teamed with ProduceIQ BB #:368175 to bring the ProduceIQ Index to its readers. The index provides a produce industry price benchmark using 40 top commodities to provide data for decision making.
At $1.39, inflation is clearly exhibited in the ProduceIQ Index.
If finding cheap limes is one of your New Year’s resolutions, you might need to reevaluate. Average prices are up +27 percent over the previous week to a record-breaking $36. Low volume from Mexico and holiday-induced labor shortages are setting lime markets up for a rough start to a historically volatile period. Lime prices typically rise through February as Mexican producers enter the period of lowest production.
Lime prices begin to rise, though not as fast as in the prior 2 years.
Watermelon and other melon supplies languish as damage from Tropical Storm Sara and import delays firmly grip melon markets. Average watermelon and cantaloupe prices are at a ten-year high by a significant margin. Supply is expected to improve through the beginning of January, but it will take a few weeks before markets normalize again.
Seedless watermelon, $0.41/lb, begin their dependency on imports (and season of volatility).
A decline in post-holiday demand and an increase in supply bring price relief to more than a few dry-veg commodities. After weeks of elevated markets, cucumbers, sweet corn, bell peppers, and beans are all seeing significant average price decreases. Sweet corn and bell pepper supply is forecasted to increase over the next few weeks as more growers in Florida come online.
Green bell pepper prices are falling from meteoric levels.
Speaking of Florida growers, strawberry prices are down -22 percent over the previous week thanks to increased supply out of the sunshine state. For the first time since October, strawberry prices are below average. Promote and enjoy the deal while it lasts!
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ProduceIQ Index
The ProduceIQ Index is the fresh produce industry’s only shipping point price index. It represents the industry-wide price per pound at the location of packing for domestic produce and at the port of U.S. entry for imported produce.
ProduceIQ uses 40 top commodities to represent the industry. The Index weights each commodity dynamically, by season, as a function of the weekly 5-year rolling average Sales. Sales are calculated using the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service for movement and price data. The Index serves as a fair benchmark for industry price performance.
