Produce prices

Pizza Shop Talk The Think Tank
1

Is everybody paying insane prices for produce now or is it just me?
A several weeks ago peppers, onions and tomatos spiked in price. I get my produce from a wholesale supplier at the state farmers market and I am used to minor flucuations and an occasional spike, but the spikes are usually short lived.
Today I paid $51.00 for a case of Medium green peppers, They have been above $40.00 a case for several weeks.
Romas are down to $25.00 a case but were over 30 last week.

They say it is due to bad weather in growing regions and everybody is affected. True?

Rick

2

Yep…it’s true :cry:

3

Yeah, green peppers are over $60 a case here, tomatoes are around $30.

4

We get hit in the head right now on produce . . . $58 for 1.1 bushel shopper bells, and they were UGLY looking peppers. Onions spiked to high, but not outrageous . . . . Romas $24.52 today.

rain and cold weather appear to be hurting the Florida crops a lot . . . and the western crops aren’t doing much better. Mexican crop is not coming in worth a timker’s cuss from reports.

5

I just paid 32.95 for a box of Romas…was quoted $48 for a 50# bag of yellow onions…salesman no relief in sight on the onions til July or August.

6

Bizarre…Bought a 50# bag of Washington Sweet Onions the other day for 14.95 at the grocery store…So it appears they are dumping onions into Canada so they can keep the supply in US depleted so they can keep the price up there…

7

Romas $38.75
Green Bell Peppers $46.75
50# Yellow Onions $37.75

GP’s got as high as $59.15 a couple weeks ago

8

Royster, could be . . . but even if they aren’t those onions aren’t making it to GA to give us price/supply relief :frowning:

9

Use red onions and you will save some cash.

10

That may be why my onions haven’t been quite so steep a price climb. We do use reds. Less demand, I would guess.

11

Are red onions cheaper year round? I’m not a big onion eater so can you tell me the difference in flavor?

12

I think white onions have a stronger taste…Most salad bars around here use red onions…

13

Yellow then red are sweeter in taste, and caramelize better. The white tend to have a little sharper/stronger flavor. The assertive whites are good for lots of things. I go for the milder/sweeter/colorful the red since we use for pizza, salads, sandwiches and all.

Super sweet Vidalia and Walla Walla are really low sulfur versions of yellow onions.

14

Bell peppers dropped from $43 a case down to $27 this week in socal. Maybe some relief is on the way. We usually pay around $10

David
www.pizzapirates.net

15

We have been using red onions for several years. Niot only are they a good tasting onion they look great on the pie.

We find that while there tend to be market swings in prices like we are seeing in tomatoes right now (our US Food rep told us it was coming weeks ago) there are differences from one vendor to another that sometimes amount to as much as $5-$8 per case… one of the reasons we shop prices weekly.

16

Looks like produce is finally dropping:

Yesterday I paid

Green peppers 29.99
Tomatoes 25.99
Yellow onions 39.99

If only the onions would come down also!

17

Just in time for cheese prices to start rising - up 20 cents in two weeks now.

I think starting to see some inflation isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because it means there’s some demand out there and could be signaling some economic recovery. I’ll gladly take higher food costs and a tighter labor market if it means we’re returning to a strong economy where my customers have more money to spend again!

18

Preach loud, my brother!