News and Stories

Basil

• Columbia is the main source of basil during the winter months
• Heavy rainfall has caused crop damage and losses; excessive moisture has resulted in mold and mildew on basil leaves
• Many suppliers of fresh basil are reporting day-to-day availability depending on the quality of shipments
• Demand is strong due to the holidays; expect tight stocks and elevated markets for the next two to three weeks

California Drought

• To date, 73% of California, mainly Central and Southern California, remains in a drought
• Rainfall totals in Northern California are well-above seasonal norms, but the state’s other key growing regions continue to see totals below seasonal norms
• Fresno has received 2.79 inches (83% of seasonal norms)
• Oxnard has received 1.53 inches (34% of seasonal norms)
• Salinas has received 3.14 inches (66% of seasonal norms)
• Sacramento has received 7.88 inches (126% of seasonal norms)
• California’s snowpack is crucial to providing snowmelt to reservoirs during the spring and summer months
• Current snowpack water content is 54% of normal for this time of year at 3.7 inches
• At this time last year, snowpack water content was higher at 5.7 inches
• Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio, critical to recharging Salinas Valley’s groundwater supplies, have increased only slightly and remain at low levels
• Lake Nacimiento is 23% full, compared to 18% last year
• Lake San Antonio is 6% full, compared to 3% last year 

Grapes

• Markon First Crop Lunch Bunch Grapes and Markon Essentials Red Seedless Grapes are available from California
• The California green seedless grape season is coming to an end; limited quantities of new crop offshore grapes are on the market
• California red seedless storage stocks will remain on the market through mid-January; new crop offshore red seedless supplies will be available in late December/early January
• Expect elevated green seedless prices until volume increases in mid-January; the red seedless market is stable 

Ready-Set-Serve (RSS) Cauliflower Florets

• RSS Cauliflower items triggered down to normal price levels, effective December 22
• The cauliflower market eased after several weeks of limited supplies
• Stocks remain tight, but weak holiday demand is easing prices
• Next week’s cool temperatures will keep production low, but markets will continue to inch down 

Please contact your Markon customer service representative for more information.

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