Market Update For Berries

Supplies of fresh strawberries continue to fall well below the daily demand of the market and the addition of new production from Florida will not be enough to change the general tone. California and Mexico combined are still not packing more than 350K daily flats, so do not expect the spot market to come off its historically high levels this week. Prorates and cancelations continued through the weekend and spot availability will limited to start the week. FOB’s still range from $32.00 to as high as $38.00, with the mostly market at $34.00 in both McAllen TX and California. Pallet quantities of Florida fruit are selling similarly. Some Florida growers are still recovering from the recent hurricanes, so don’t expect promotable volumes of Florida berries until early January.