An all-American apple born in Japan!
With all the apple varieties available today, Fuji is a favorite for eating, baking, and cooking. It is ranked in the top 3 of the most popular apples in the US, according to the US Apple Association. It is number one in Japan, where it was born. A crossbreed of two American apples, the Red Delicious and the Virginia Ralls Janet, created in the 1930s and released to the world in the 1980s, it quickly grew in popularity!
It is easy to see the app-peal of this All American fruit. The pink speckled blush over a yellow-green background on the skin of the apple just begs to be eaten. It’s not just the look of the flesh that is appetizing, its skin has a cleaner and drier texture than other varieties, such as the Pink Lady. Once you bite into this candy-like apple, you will truly understand its popularity. The flesh is dense and sweet, which snaps easily when eaten. The fact is the Fuji is a denser apple. Because of this denseness, the Fuji apple is a lot juicier and also happens to be crispier than most.
Something you might not know, the Fuji has a brix level of 15- 18. The brix level is the percent of sugar found in the fruit. On the “brix scale,” an apple with a brix of 10 is thought to be average, an apple with a brix of 14 is considered good, whereas the Fuji has an average of 15-18 thereby considered excellent! Did you know that the brix level directly relates to the soil? If the soil is high quality, meaning it has more nutrients, this gets passed on to the tree and fruit, which means more nutrients to you! Who couldn’t use more flavonoids? Fujis contain high amounts which can greatly reduce the risk of a heart attack and heart disease. They are rich in Vitamin C, which helps protect your body from illness and are rich in fiber, which helps reduce cholesterol levels. Instead of reaching for that bag of chips or cookies late at night, try a delicious Fuji apple! Its low GI prevents blood sugar spikes, and the added fiber aids in digestion, which is known to help you sleep.
Don’t forget to order the large Fuji apples from Westlake for Chinese New Year!
Apples & Pears
Chinese New Year is coming January 25th, demand increases for large Fuji apples. As we welcome in the Year of the Rat, we say goodbye to the Cosmic Crisp apple. Call us now for your apple needs!
Melons
Westlake has moved our honeydew growing region to Southern Mexico! These melons from the south are looking better than their Northern cousins. Honeydew volume is still low as offshore dews have not fully come into season. We expect this to trend for the next few weeks. Cantaloupes continue to come from our growers in Mexico and Guatemala. We are currently bringing in containers from Guatemala in both LA and Houston. Seedless watermelon is still extremely tight. Please place your orders ahead of time with Westlake. We are monitoring the situation and can offer you the best of the crops!
Tropicals
Lime volume is picking up! Westlake has fruit from our growers coming in from Mexico via Texas, shipping to the East and West Coasts. Pricing is in the teens on 175s/200s/230s, call us now for promotional pricing!
We are all done with our Mangoes out of Ecuador, but we started receiving them from Peru on Friday.
The newly named Honey Mangoes (also known as the ataulfo) from Mexico will start arriving this week. Don’t miss out on these! We currently can offer the 20s, 22s, and 24s, but expect the larger yellows late next week. Remember these may be smaller in size, but they make up for it in texture and smaller seed.
The Kiwi market is limited currently and the pricing is expected to go up on this year-round item.
The pineapple market continues to be extremely tight and we are limited on the larger sized fruit. We expect this trend to continue for the next few weeks. Westlake is monitoring this situation closely, please call for day to day updates and pricing.
Citrus
In other citrus news, California is offering the best fruit currently. All varieties are perfect eating and availability is there for promotion. Florida is offering the Orri mandarin and Juicy Crunch tangerine. They are outstanding quality, but supplies are limited. Further south, Mexico is moving the Honey tangerine. These are easy peeling and priced right for ads. With all this great citrus available, there is no excuse to catch a cold!
Potato & Onion
Currently, russet potatoes are still very tight, and the market remains strong. Colored potatoes are tight, and the market is showing signs of strength. Meanwhile, the onion supply is tight on all colors, and we expect the market to go up on these. Let's hope that the weather cooperates this week, or we could have some issues with production and transportation.
Look out for the red Fresno chili arriving biweekly from Florida! Westlake has plenty of peppers, and the market remains strong. We are watching the FOB prices in Nogales slide down just a little.
Berries
It may be cold in California, but the strawberry market is heating up! Pricing is going up due to the weather, but there is also not enough supply to cover retail needs on both the East and West Coast. As for the growing regions, Mexico continues to ship strawberries but has yet to peak. Baja is currently extremely limited, but is the best quality right now for all strawberry growing regions, followed by Oxnard, and Florida (which is very limited). Santa Maria continues to ship strawberries, as well as Salinas, which are growing under hoops.
Westlake expects the market to be in the double digits through January and early February.
Call us for all your berry needs, promotional pricing and pack requests!
Specialty Produce
The dragon fruit market is stable and remains consistent for Chinese New Year, starting Saturday the 25th. It is important to prebook these shipments with Westlake.
Organics
Check out our organic offerings of winter favorites!
Call us now for sizing and promotions!
Avocados
Another big event is happening in a couple of short weeks...the Superbowl! Now Westlake won’t publically back either team, but we can all back the presence of guacamole at any 49ers or Chief’s party! Avocados from California (don’t worry Chief’s fans they’re not from SF!) have started and we expect full loads on 48s and 40s. We don’t expect the smaller sized avos from Cali to happen until late February. Mexico will be slowing down this week and next, but expect a push after the Superbowl!
Call us for day to day availability, pricing, and our pick on who’s going to take it!