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Organic Market Update: Oct. 11-18

Organic broccoli rabe supply recovers from gap and Mexican organic tomato prices may rise post-hurricanes. Read more in this week’s organic market update.

6 Min Read
October 17 2024 Organic Market Update

Sweets and Potatoes

Organic Sweet Potatoes are at the peak of their ability right now and will continue to be through the remainder of the year. All premium California Organic Sweet Potato varietals (Orange, Red, White, Japanese, Purple Stokes and Ben Yagi) are new crop with good availability and phenomenal quality. Organic Russet Potatoes are in ample supply with steady attractive pricing coming out of Wisconsin on both bagged and bulk. Quality out of Wisconsin has been nice and is only expected to improve as we get into storage potatoes that will have much nicer skin-set in late October. Pricing will be steady and then ease off for November through the end of the year with our promotable locked-in holiday pricing. Organic Red and Gold Potatoes will make the transition up to Manitoba-grown product in mid October. Quality at that time will be much better than what we have been seeing during late September and early October. Pricing will remain steady through the end of October and then come off by a couple of dollars once we get into our locked-in holiday promo pricing through the end of the year.

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Fall Fruit

Fresh Organic Cranberries are back in season! 18/8oz will be the primary SKU. Organic Kiwifruit Berries are in season for October. Make sure to get this specialty fruit on your shelves while supplies last—offered in a 12/6 oz clamshell and ready to eat whole when ripened to soft. Organic Fuyu and Hachiya Persimmons are in season! Supplies should remain steady through fall. Remember that Organic Fuyu Persimmons (flat) can be eaten firm, while Organic Hachiya Persimmons (cone-shaped) must be soft before they are ready to eat. Organic Pomegranates are available! Look for both large sizes and smaller value options throughout the California season. Organic Brown Turkey Figs from California will be available in limited quantities in October, while Organic Black Mission Figs are finished for the season.

Warm Veg

New crop Organic Peppers, Cucumbers, Squash, Tomatoes, Cabbage and Eggplant are all available from New Jersey. Weather pending, they are expected to go into November. Mexico has started with Organic Color Bell Peppers, Green Peppers, Cucumbers, Squash and Eggplant, but it’s still undetermined how affected these markets will be since Florida production was hit with hurricanes. If Mexico has a larger-than-normal crop, it may help ease pricing challenges from East Coast shortages. If not, prices will jump.

Hard Squash

Organic Hard Squashes are in peak season with affordable pricing and good availability. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have the following Organic Hard Squashes available: OG Spaghetti, OG Buttercup, OG Carnival, OG Delicata, OG Kabocha, OG Red Kuri, OG Sweet Dumplings, OG Acorn, OG Butternut and OG Honeynut.

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Root Veg

Organic Root Vegetables are coming back in season during October for the colder weather! Organic Turnips, Scarlett Turnips, Burdock, Beauty Radishes, Black Radishes and Sunchokes are perfect for winter salads and soups! 8/3lb bags of Organic Soup Mix Vegetables will be back around Oct. 16.

Apples/Pears

Organic SugarBee Apples are coming back into season in the East by Oct. 15. Good supplies are expected for this year’s crop. Organic Envy and Lady Alice Apples are coming back into season and will be in stock around Oct. 17. The promotable Organic Apple varieties for this month are Organic Gala, Honeycrisp and Fuji. Organic SweeTango and Granny Smith are in season too. Storage crop Washington Organic Cosmic Crisp Apples are coming to an end and will gap starting in mid to late October until new crop is ready to ship in early December. The first new-crop Organic Anjou Pears are now available with excellent supply and quality. Organic Starkrimson Red Pears will start to transition to Organic Red Bartlett Pears.

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Berries

Organic Raspberries continue to be promotable out of Mexico. Quality has been excellent and supplies are strong. Organic Strawberries are available out of California with new-crop fruit from Oxnard, California. Quality is expected to be excellent from new fields and pricing increased on new crop fruit. Organic Blackberries out of the Santa Maria/Oxnard, California areas have availability that is limited as the season is expected to finish in late October. Mexico is battling rainy days, but once the weather clears out, production should improve with strong supplies expected. Quality has been good with firm berries. Organic Blueberry supplies are limited with arrivals getting pushed as ports continue to clear the backlog of ships. Peru experienced hot temps which is also limiting harvests. Availability is expected to improve weekly with promotable volume expected by mid November. Quality has been excellent.

Broccoli Rabe

Organic Broccoli Rabe is set to return by mid October. After nearly a month-long gap in supply, volumes are starting to recover. While costs will remain high as supply rebounds, they should ease as the month progresses.

Tomatoes

There will be some hot-spot buys on Organic Cherry On-the-Vine Tomatoes for mid October! A full lineup of greenhouse Organic Snacking Tomatoes will be available. Greenhouse Organic Beefsteak and Cluster Tomatoes are back in steady supply. Pennsylvania will have limited quantities of Organic Heirloom, Grape, Cherry and Medley Tomatoes as their season winds down. All Mexican Organic Tomatoes are expected to rise in price and be tight from mid October through November, especially with growers in North Carolina and Florida having fall crops lost or damaged from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

About the Author

Organic Produce Network staff

Organic Produce Network

Organic Produce Network staff

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