Good morning and Happy New Year!

If you are looking for creative ideas for salad bars, buffets, and catering, perhaps this can help:
• Berries are plentiful right now. Bring bright colors to the dreary weather with Strawberries, Blackberries and Blueberries, all priced in the “teens” for next week
• Golden Pineapples are very sweet, colorful and have multiple uses
• Seedless Red Grapes are very sweet as the California crop finishes its harvest
• Cantaloupes and Honeydews have increased in sweetness and come down in price
• Mangoes are a big hit and available
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Regarding Vegetables:
• Cabbage is a big hit for New Years, very plentiful at low prices
• Broccoli and Cauliflower has come down in price
• More and more customers are using Fresh Cut Green Beans as side dishes rather than canned
• Potatoes continue to be a great value, all sizes. Compare the price per pound on fresh #2 potatoes vs. frozen
• Great deals can be had on fresh Cranberries, and they fresh very well
• Turnips, Parsnips, Rutabagas, Beets are available
• If there is interest, we will carry Peeled Garlic in 1# containers
• Sweet Potatoes and Yams are in great supply
• Low prices available on Collard, Mustard, Turnip and Dandelion Greens
• Endive and Escarole are available for soups and salads
• We have different salad blends available if you want to try something new
• Beautiful Edible Orchids are also available for garnish and decoration

This is a small portion of what we have available. Please call us if we can help. Thanks so much for a really great year!

Good Morning, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

The produce world is pretty quiet as we end 2011 and head into the holidays:
• California Vegetables (Lettuce, Romaine, Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Celery) have all gone down in price as we head into the busy New Years business
• Strawberries have started from Florida, with excellent quality, bringing the prices down
• Oranges are also excellent quality from both Florida and California with lower prices
• Cabbage, Carrots, and Potatoes are plentiful and reasonably priced for New Years Eve dishes

The Holiday Season reminds us to pause and reflect what’s important to us. We know you have a choice where you purchase your produce, cheese and dairy products. We never take that for granted. Thanks so much for choosing us.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

• Many customers are purchasing Holiday Fruit Arrangements. Due to the holiday quickly approaching, if you are interested in purchasing Fruit Baskets from us, we would need your order by 5:00PM today to be packed and ready to either pick up at our facility on Wednesday 12/21, or to be delivered with to your place with your regular order beginning next Wednesday.

• We will take orders through 5:00 PM Tuesday 12/20 for pick-up only at our place Friday 12/23 from 8:00-5:00.

• While we will be making deliveries on Christmas Eve, our warehouse will be closed.

• Remind you, we will be making delivers Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, but no deliveries on December 26, 2011 and January 2, 2012

• If you have any questions, please call me anytime

There are no changes in produce markets for this week. Attached is some market information.

Thanks again!

Here’s the latest produce news:

• Holiday fruit is available, looks and tastes great. Washington Red, Yellow and Granny Smith Apples, Spanish Clementines, Florida Tangerines, and Grapefruit, and California Kumquats and Oranges

• Western Vegetables are grown in Yuma AZ this time of year, this week temperatures were unseasonably cold, with freezing temps at night. This affects the yield on Lettuce, Romaine, Celery, Broccoli, and Cauliflower, pushing prices up

• Tomatoes (Round, grapes, and cherries) are coming on like gangbusters, pushing prices down with great quality

• Berries (Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries) have a negative reaction to cooler temperatures, quality is fair, prices are high

• Citrus (Lemons, oranges, limes) are creeping up in price as demand is exceeding supply

• Potatoes and Onions are in great supply, great quality and great prices

Please let us know if we can be of additional service, assisting you in any way with your holiday catering. Thanks for the opportunity to be of service.

Good Morning!

Many customers are asking about fresh fruit for the holidays:
• Washington State Apples and Pears are a great choice. They have a beautiful shine with bright seasonal colors, Red Delicious (Red) Granny Smith (Green), and Golden Delicious (Yellow) as well as Red and Green D ‘Anjou Pears.
• Regarding Fresh Citrus, California Navel Oranges, Tangerines, Clementines and Red Grapefruit are colorful, smell and taste great.
• Many colorful, delicious options on Grapes, including Red Seedless, Green Seedless, Black Seedless, and Globe (tasty large purple grapes with seeds)
• For fruit bowls, melons (Cantaloupes, Honeydews, and Watermelons) are improving in taste and quality. Pineapples are moderately priced and taste like candy

Regarding Vegetables:
• California Vegetables (Lettuce, Romaine, Leaf Lettuce, Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Celery) have come back down to normal pricing levels
• Florida Vegetables (Tomatoes, including Roma and Grapes, Cucumbers, Green Peppers, Eggplant, and Squash) are improving in quality due to increased supply
• Sweet Potatoes and Yams are in season and moderately priced

Fruit Baskets as Gifts:
We have a fine-looking selection of fruit baskets available and displayed on our website www.barkettfruit.com. If you have any questions, please call us.

Thanks so much for the opportunity to be of service. Our business is growing as several independent restaurants are choosing to work with independent suppliers like us. We tend to be more service oriented than broad line distributors that sell produce. Our pricing is competitive or lower, our quality is better, and our service is much more convenient.

Thanks again!

We hope you had a great holiday, here’s what’s happening with fresh produce:

• Strawberries are very limited, with high prices and only fair quality…Berry quality will improve as the Florida crop begins harvesting, but we appear to be about a week away
• California Red and Green Seedless Grapes are finishing up with Chilean imports next to arrive for the Christmas season
• The price rise on California vegetables (lettuce, romaine, cauliflower, broccoli, and celery appeared to be short lived…prices on all items including pre-cut salads will be back to normal on beginning Monday…Crops are harvesting in Yuma, Arizona and the quality has been very nice
• Onions appear to be in good supply with steady prices…Idaho Potato market appears to be very steady
• Tomato prices are coming down as grower/shippers begin to harvest in more areas of Florida

Thanks again for the opportunity to serve your fresh produce needs. Please remember we have fruit baskets available for the holidays.