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Produce
All wet veg items will be shipping from the Salinas Valley as supplies increase and quality improves. As mentioned previously, due to the abundant rainfall in California, farmers are witnessing a rise in anthracnose, a fungal infection that has resulted in reduced yields of iceberg and romaine lettuce. As a precautionary measure, harvesting teams are trimming the products to alleviate these concerns, resulting in lighter case weights than usual. Overall most commodities are seeing a decline in markets. However, the romaine and iceberg markets remain higher due to quality issues. The avocado inventory in the US is significant, and Cinco pulls are commencing. Due to recent market volatility, strong Cinco promotions are not as guaranteed as during the Super Bowl.
Grains
Due to favorable planting conditions in the US, strong harvest reports from South America, and rising soybean oil supplies, soybean oil futures saw an almost 5% decrease last week. Canola futures in California decreased in tandem with the price of soybean oil, and exports are minimal. Because soy prices are rising, palm is finally losing ground.
Dairy
The market for shell eggs is collapsing, and demand has decreased. Over the last four weeks, cage-free supply have increased by 22.2%, despite the avian virus causing major production interruptions. Block and barrel sales are steadily rising. Producers of butter report a decline in sales of both salted and unsalted butter.
Beef
As long as buyers use caution and keep their buying windows closed, tenders and ribs will remain tender, with equally applied pressure to both butts and strips. Buyer pressure on bids continues to impact chucks, insides, and end cuts. With the growing harvest, there seems to be less of a drive for lean meats. Grains are still mixed because of a fluctuating supply and a predicted increase in demand.
Pork
Butts are still rising more quickly than expected. As the holiday draws nearer, the demand for butts is only going to rise. Because of the current slow demand, ribs will be flat next week. Strong exports and retail interest are driving up loins as well. Bellies are still in high demand, and the market is still unstable.
Poultry
This week, breasts leveled out. The demand for wings has increased. There is a high demand for tenders, yet they are still the hardest to locate offering. The desire for dark meat is still high. The majority of whole birds are balanced.
Seafood
Prices have increased despite food service revenues being steady during the Lenten season due to rising labor, energy, and other operational costs. It will be difficult to maintain sales throughout the year as a result. Shrimp sales are projected to be stimulated by the anticipated summer demand rise following Lent.
