California-grown Keitt mangoes are here! Keitt mangoes are a late-season cultivar originating from Florida. The Keitt mango was first planted in 1939 from a seedling from an Indian variety, Mulgoba. India is home to over 2,500 mango varieties, including some ‘heirlooms’ from which most other varieties were developed.

Keitt mangoes are oblong in shape with a pale to dark green skin. The flesh is orange-yellow and fiber-free with a thin seed. The flavor is tangy and sweet, with a creamy, buttery texture. Like other varieties of mangoes, the Keitt is high in fiber and vitamins A & C. Their unique exterior coloring can be misleading: Keitt is one of the few mangoes that can be fully ripe and still be solid green in color. The only way to determine ripeness is by touch; the skin gives slightly when the fruit is ripe. An eagerly awaited staff-favorite every year, add some delectable Keitt mangoes to your order today. They are peaking in-season for a short window!

Apple Appeal

When heirloom apples start showing up, it’s a sign that fall is just around the corner. Apples are generally available year-round, but heirloom apples and new season domestic crop are here for the next few months with new varieties popping up weekly. Here are a few suggestions to keep your apple displays interesting and fun throughout the season.

• Decorative Baskets: Use decorative display baskets to create multiple levels. They are also great to use when making smaller displays to feature several types of heirloom apples. Baskets are great to use if you are carrying different varieties that look very similar. Don’t forget to place signage on the baskets!
• Color Breaks: Avoid grouping similar colors together. This helps distinguish all the different varieties stand out.
• Cross Merchandise with Cheese: Cheese is an easy complementary item that pairs well with apples. Dry cheeses like Parmigiano-Reggiano can sit out of refrigeration for short periods of time which makes them a perfect cross merchandising item in any display.
• Make Fall Themed Displays: California pears and hard squash are also coming into season. These can be displayed together to construct attractive fall themed displays.
• Thanksgiving Displays: As we approach Thanksgiving, make a baking themed display featuring pie apples like Pink Lady and Granny Smith. This is a great way to promote apples and keep them moving when customers are starting to focus and plan for the upcoming holiday.

New & Exciting!:

• Dried Fruit: Dried Black Mission and Golden figs in great supply. California-grown, shelf stable, and packed in recyclable containers.

• Jujube: Oval or round in shape. Size varies from a large grape to a golf ball. Exterior is a speckled yellow-green to brown coloring. Interior flesh is uniquely both crisp and airy, surrounding a hard and pointed inedible seed. Flavor ranges from sweet and sour to a candy-like sweetness.

• Seckel Pear*: Very small and bite sized pear. Tear-drop shape and round body that tapes to a short neck. Smooth, thin, olive green skin with glossy red blushing that darkens when ripe. Flesh is creamy white, dense, moist, and coarse in texture. Crisp, juicy, and sweet flavor.

• Quince*: Resembles a large, lumpy yellow pear. Strong aromatic tropical fragrance. Flesh cannot be eaten raw. When cooked- becomes a rich candy-like paste with honeyed flavors.

Promotable:

• Bronx Grape*: Tasting absolutely delicious! Thin skin is translucent pale green to rosy pink. Juicy with an almost candied flavor. A cross between the Thompson and Concord grape varieties. Available from Lagier Ranches in a compostable paper clamshell.

• Emerald Beaut Plum*: Available for a limited time. Light green skin with greenish yellow to orange colored flesh. Crisp, almost crunchy texture. Freestone. One of the sweetest varieties of plums, exploding with flavor and juiciness! Add some to your order today before they’re done for the season!
• Gypsy Pepper: A hand-bred cross between a sweet pepper and a bell pepper. Small to medium size with an elongated shape. No-heat sweet pepper. Flesh is crispy and juicy. In great supply with sharp pricing. Talk to your Account Manager for volume deals.
• Mushroom: Button and Shiitake mushrooms in great supply.
• Orange Bell Pepper: California-grown and import in good supply.
• Specialty Melons: Canary, Crenshaw, Charentais, Piel de Sapo, Sharlyn, and yellow watermelon varieties in great supply. Get your melons before the season winds down by mid-September!
• Thompson Grape: Paper totes from Marian Farms in great supply!

*Staff Pick

Limited:

• Bok Choy: Gapping in supply. Expected to improve by the third week of September.
• Broccoli: Tight in supply. Expected to improve by second week of September.
• Corn: Bi-color and white corn available in limited numbers with higher pricing. Air quality has been affected by California fires and limits labor.
• Cucumber: Slicing cucumbers supply extremely tight. Mexican Hot House cucumbers very limited. Persian cucumber pricing on the rise.
• Grapefruit: In very tight supply.
• Oyster Mushroom: Pink and yellow limited in supply.
• Plantain: In limited supply.
• Pluot: Somewhat limited in supply.
• Turmeric: Gapping in supply and is expected to return in October.

Done for the Season:

• Kent Mango
• Lemon Cucumber
• Ping Tong Long Eggplant

Download September 4 2020 Produce Notes