Sysco Quality Assurance

Fresh Produce Sysco QA UPDATE: Week of 1/31/18

QA Western Update for the Week of 1/31/18 A higher pressure system continues to dominate western weather, bringing unseasonably warm weather to the desert southwest, and extremely unseasonably warm weather to central California. For the desert, industry concerns have shifted away from freeze damage to warm weather defect concerns, as well as the overarching concern that we are almost two weeks ahead of the harvest schedule for most items, bringing the strong possibility for a production gap during transition, which is now only six weeks away… Commodity Iceberg Lettuce for Sysco Approval: Yuma-area condition is poor to fair, quality is also poor to fair, few defects due to jumbo sizing, solid heads, occasional defect due to weak tip, and light epidermal peeling (a.k.a. blister). Yuma-area commodity Iceberg weight is 46-50+ lbs. Yuma-area trimmed Iceberg condition is fair, quality is fair, few defects due to oversizing, bleaching, and solid heads. Yuma-area trimmed Iceberg weight is 36-40lbs. At left is a picture showing a solid head near Yuma, at right shows frosty conditions in the Imperial Valley.

Green and Red Leaf for Sysco Approval: Yuma-area Green and Red Leaf condition is fair, quality is fair to good, few defects due to cupping and epidermal peeling. Yuma-area leaf lettuce weight is 21-24 lbs. Below are pictures showing good quality Green Leaf under harvest near Yuma.

Romaine for Sysco Approval: Yuma-area Romaine condition is fair, quality is fair, Sysco QA is noting few defects due to epidermal peeling, fringe burn, cupping, discoloration, ribbiness, internal burn, and under sizing. Current Yuma-area Romaine weight is 34-36 lbs. Yuma Romaine hearts: fair condition, fair quality, few defects due to ribbiness, inconsistent sizing, internal burn, and misshape. Yuma-area Romaine heart weight is 26-30+ lbs. At left is a picture showing fringe burn, at right internal burn is shown.

Sysco Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Celery: Broccoli condition is poor, quality is poor to fair, occasional defects due to brown beading, flowering, branchiness, and under sizing. Cauliflower condition is fair, quality is also fair, few defects due to inconsistent sizing, riciness, and yellowing. Celery: condition is fair, quality is fair, occasional defects due to inconsistent sizing. Below is a picture showing light brown beading in broccoli.

Pre Cut Items: Chopped Romaine is beginning to show small amounts of epidermal peel, as well as occasional fringe burn. Iceberg salads look mostly good, still noting occasional defects due to chunks. Cilantro and parsley remain good, occasional defects due to yellowing. Kale look nice, no major concerns. Broccoli florettes continue to exhibit occasional defects due to brown beading, dipping down this week thanks to warming conditions, while cauliflower florettes continue to exhibit occasional defects due to riciness and bruising. For fillets and washed and trimmed Romaine and Green Leaf, we continue to note occasional defects due to epidermal peeling, as well as fringe burn. Spinach and Spring Mix: Spinach condition is fair, quality is good, occasional defects due to light mechanical damage and mildew damage. Spring mix condition is fair, quality is mostly good, occasional defects due to mildew damage. Strawberries: Western production remains in our more southern growing regions, with Oxnard being the primary of those, condition there has improved, as a high pressure system has dried the fields, no major concerns this week. Citrus: Lemons: Quality remains very good from California’s Central Valley. Current harvest continue to yield more larger-sized fruit than small, making smaller sizes less available. Oranges: The Navel crop continues with very good quality from California’s Central Valley, no major concerns currently. Similarly to lemons, today’s oranges are also towards the larger end of the spectrum, reducing the availability of smaller-sized fruit. Below are pictures showing excellent Branded quality.

Grapes: Availability seems generally good for both red seedless and green seedless as the South American season ramps up, sizing seems variable though, with more split-grapes this week, forcing some lots to be repacked stateside.