News and Stories

The temperatures over the last several days rose into the mid-80s to low 90s in the California Central Coast region. Markon inspectors have encountered industry wide heat-related defects; more issues are expected to develop in the next week as the product matures.

Strawberries:

• Potential quality issues such as bruising, decay, smaller sizing, soft texture, and shortened shelf-life are expected upon arrival late this week and into next
• Over the next two weeks, temperatures are expected to drop back into the low 70s which will allow plants to recover

Tender Leaf:

• Product is exhibiting brittle texture and yellow leaves; processing is contributing to further mechanical damage and shortened shelf-life
• Inspectors will continue to closely monitor items such as arugula, cilantro, and spinach as they are especially susceptible to heat-related defects

Iceberg, Romaine, and Green Leaf:

• Markon First Crop Romaine and Green Leaf is available; Markon Best Available Iceberg Liner will be substituted as needed
• Below average temperatures over the last several weeks have brought industry wide lighter case weights for liner
• Inconsistent liner weights are expected for the next 7-10 days
• Quality defects such as bottom rot, dehydration, internal burn, rib blight, and sunscald will be seen over the next 7-10 days as the product matures

Cold chain management will be important to extend shelf-life in the coming days. Please contact your Markon customer support representative for more information.

Blake Anderson

Quality Assurance

markon.com

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