COMMODITY FOOD MARKET UPDATES: w/o December 4th, 2023

CATEGORY	NEAR-TERM MARKET PRICING TREND	SUPPLY vs. DEMAND	DSR MARKET INSIGHTS COMMENTARY
Beef (Commodity)	Increasing	Short - Steady	Consumer demand remains flat. The chuck complex is "correcting". Market values are declining. Ribeyes are appreciating as retail begins to accumulate ribeyes for post-Thanksgiving holiday demand. The loin complex is steady and strong. PSMO Tenderloins are not. Expect lower prices from here. The round complex is also correcting, and adjusting lower. Briskets - weak. Short plate short ribs - higher. Flap meat - higher. Ball Tips - lower. Tri tips - higher. Chub ground beef - steady
Butter	Decreasing	Available - Strong	Cream volumes are looser, and spot load availability has improved across all regions of the country. The current holiday week has continued to improve cream supplies for butter production. Bulk butter production schedules are busier as more manufacturers reach comfortable levels of retail inventories for the November/December holiday season. In the central region, plant schedules still involve more micro-fixing than during a normal holiday timeframe. Butter production is mixed nationwide. While production schedules are generally steady to stronger in the East and West regions, central butter makers say they are hesitant to add the abundant cream to the churns. Some manufacturers note planned downtime during the current holiday week. Source: USDA AMS as of November 24
Cheese	Decreasing	Available - Strong	Strong milk volumes continue to clear into Class III processing in the East. Retail demand is steady to stronger, while foodservice demand is down due to restaurant downtime for Thanksgiving as well as high menu prices. In the Central region, holiday downtime at certain plants has freed up milk production, and spot milk prices were reported below Class for the first time in months. Bearish trends on industry cash exchanges have enticed some customers to purchase beyond near term needs. In the West, cheese inventories are noted to be comfortable, though spot demand of some cheese varieties is said to be tighter than in recent weeks. In certain areas of the West, spot loads of milk are also said to be tight. Retail demand is steady to stronger. Industry sources relay international demand is light for the time being. Source: USDA AMS as of November 24
Fluid Dairy	Class I - Increasing Class II - Increasing	Class I Available - Steady Class II Short - Strong	For December expect an increase on Milk (Class I) and an increase on Cultured/Creams (Class II).
Oils/Shortening	Steady	Available -Steady	There have been no major changes in commodity oil prices in the past couple of weeks beyond the slight increases that we have seen. We expect some slight decreases on a few Premium Shortening and blended products in the coming weeks. Products are in strong supply with no shortages or delays expected.
Pork (Commodity)	Decreasing	Available - Decreasing	All subprimals are forecast for declines through the end of the year - prices for Butts (Bone-in and boneless), loins (Bone-in and boneless), and spare ribs are all on the decline, backribs are stable priced where they are today, all for the remainder of the year.
Pork (Value-Added)	Decreasing	Available – Steady	It's ham season with Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner. Prices for hams will be on the rise and difficult to source as Retail demand will get the attention of processors. Bacon, breakfast and dinner sausage prices should decline each month through the end of the year.
Poultry (Chicken)	Steady	Mixed – Steady	Boneless breast meat prices decreased this week. All wing sizes remained stable with limited availability on jumbo wings. Tenderloins have also decreased this week. Whole chickens remained steady while WOGs show little availability. The back half of the bird also remains steady with lack-luster demand.
Poultry (Turkey)	Steady	Available – Steady	Fresh Breast meat prices have slightly declined and are at the 52-week low. Whole bird availability is showing in the marketplace across all sizes. The turkey market is recovering from the HPAI effects that occurred in 2022, as long as it stays the course, availability should continue to rebound in 2023.
Frozen Vegetables	Increasing	Mixed - Strong	Broccoli, Cauliflower and California Blend pricing increasing from Mexico due to pesos vs dollar exchange rate. Product from other countries is currently stable. Significant increase in Mango pricing due to poor pack season.
Produce	Lower - Avocados & Broccoli Steady - Apples, Strawberries, Iceberg & Romaine Higher - Carrots, Russet Potatoes, Onions, Grapes, Lemons, Oranges & Tomatoes	Improving/Steady - Avocados, Broccoli, Strawberries, Iceberg, Romaine Good/Strong - Apples, Russet Potatoes & Onions Short/Strong - Carrots, Tomatoes, Oranges, Grapes & Lemons	Apples: WA fall harvest up 28%. Excellent quality on all varieties. Avocados: MX into new crop. #2's more available. Supply improving. Broccoli: supply improving, Yuma, AZ ramping up. Good quality. Carrot: high demand for CA due to poor size in all other areas. Iceberg: demand lower. Yuma quality clean, running 37-41 lbs. Romaine: Yuma supplies plentiful, quality above average. Grapes: CA supplies finishing. Imports arriving from Peru & Brazil. Tomatoes: cool temps slowing production. Elevated prices until Feb. Strawberries: CA volume declining. MX low volume. FL starting. Oranges: CA Navels, supply tight, will improve in 2 weeks. FL starting. Lemons: CA/AZ new crop starting. Increasing volume. Quality is good. Onions: fall crop ample & top quality. Lack of trucks slowing shipments of N.W. Onions and Idaho potatoes, with higher rates. Russet Potatoes: ample 70-90ct, 40 & 50ct are higher.
Sugar	Steady	Mixed - Strong	Sugar prices remain at elevated levels and will likely not show any major changes as we close out the year. Beet Sugar is in better supply than it has been in a couple of years with newly harvested product available and now on the market. Cane sugar availability is currently in adequate supply. It is not expected that we will see any price declines in the coming weeks.
Shell Eggs	Increasing	Available - Steady	Consumer demand over last week's holiday-shortened marketing period slowed ahead of the start of the December baking season. Wholesale prices for cartoned eggs are lower as demand eases for continued light to moderate supplies and offerings. Trading is slow to moderate. Prices on the loose egg market are lower with light to moderate offerings but a full range of demand and moderate to adequate supplies. Trading is slow to moderate. Wholesale breaking stock prices are unchanged with very light to light demand, light offerings, and light to moderate supplies. Schedules are full and trading is slow to moderate. The preliminary survey of retail outlets indicates an active promotional period this week for conventional caged shell eggs as the December baking season is getting underway. Despite the increased activity, the average ad price remains unchanged. Source: USDA AMS as of November 29 During the month of November there have been four few isolated reports of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Minnesota (11/1), Iowa (11/10), Ohio (11/20) and another in Iowa (11/27). Though these are the same type of outbreaks that led to widespread flock depopulations in 2022 and subsequent increases in market prices for eggs in 2022 and early 2023, the current scale of these late-2023 outbreaks is much smaller than that which were experienced last year.
Seafood	Shrimp Steady	Shrimp Available - Steady	Shrimp has continued to remain steady and at the 52-week low.
Wheat (Flour Based Products)	Mixed	Mixed – Strong	Commodity flour prices have continued to show slight declines in most markets in recent days. This is because production capacity in some parts of the country is better. World markets are also showing some slight price declines due to weaker demand in some countries. No significant price changes are expected through year-end.
All UniPro Foodservice DSR Market Insights information is based on domestic US market data only, unless indicated otherwise. The UniPro Foodservice Market DSR Insights update is not a recommendation to buy or sell a commodity. While this update is based on sources we believe to be reliable and accurate, UniPro Foodservice does not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented.