Fruit
Good/New Season
- Nectarines & Peaches are both available and quality will be good. Flat Peaches and Apricots are likely to start arriving in the first two weeks of the month but be advised that early examples are likely to be be quite pale, probably smallish and bland. With all new season fruits, initially their quality may be inconsistent and they will most certainly be expensive to begin with.
- New Zealand Golden Kiwis are likely to arrive by the first or second week of the month.
- The seasonal switch from Spanish to Dutch & Belgian Strawberries will be complete, or near complete, by the first week of May, which will also mean a transition from 250g to 500g punnet sizes. They posses an incredible aroma, look stunning and taste wonderful however early examples can have a slightly reduced shelf life, we may see some early arrivals of English Strawberries in May. Blackberries will move from Mexico to Spain and the Netherlands, Blueberries & Raspberries will both be coming from Morroco and Spain. All Berries will be excellent quality during May.
- Honey/Alphonso Mangoes will be available all month.
- Apples will likely continue to Northern Hemisphere for the month with some English varieties available until the third week of the month. Towards the end of the month and into June we will start to look at switching main line Apples to Southern Hemisphere with the first to move being Granny Smith. This will inevitably see an increase in price.
- On the upside, apricot-look-a-like, tangy and refreshingly juicy Nisperos start the month in fine fettle (but remember their skins are usually blemished with brown blotches when the fruit is ripe).
- For a luxury tropical look, consider incorporating Physalis, Rambutans, Kumquats, Pitahaya, Baby Pineapple, Guava. Israeli Lychees should also make a welcome appearance at some point during the month.
Potential Problems
- Easy Peelers start the month with phenomenal Nadorcotts which taste as incredible as they look however when these finish towards the end of the month we move further South and onto Satsumas and Mineolas both of which can be questionable in appearance and taste.
- Despite the presence early on of usually excellent Indian crops, Grapes can start to become problematic as the month progresses, and there is often a period where Seeded is the only option if one wishes to obtain reasonable quality.
- European Plums will not yet be in season, meaning a continued reliance on Chilean imports, which often have a tendency to be hard and bland for most of the month.
- European Cherries should make an appearance early on, but they will start off very expensive.
Problematic/End of Season
- Oranges can begin to show serious signs of age as we near the end of the Northern Hemisphere production.
- Blood Oranges will come to an end quite early in the month.
Salad
Good/New Season
- By about the thrid week of May the transition from imported to almost entirely English Continental Lettuces will have hopefully occurred, which means that our stock of Lollo Rosso, Lollo Biondi, Oakleaf, & **Frisee, will all be home-grown. **UK grown Frisee can be slightly more coarse than Spanish and so we will make Spanish Frisee available as a seperate line for those customers who request it.
- Our Radicchio will remain Italian as our buyers prefer the quality. We should also have Italian Castel Franco
- In the first week of the month our supply of Baby Leaves (Baby Spinach, Roquette, Mixed Leaves, Mizuna, Roquette, Corn Salad) will switch from Italy to UK.
- Another likely homegrown new season arrival towards the end of the month are English Spring Onions which, like their Egyptian counterparts, tend to be quite slender and with less bulbous heads campared to other imports.
- Another seasonal switch concerns that of Pepper, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Aubergines & Courgettes, during which Spanish will be replaced by entirely Dutch imports by around week 2 of the month. As with Dutch strawberries, you'll find them to more uniform in size than the Spanish ones they replace; furthermore their colouration should be much more even and consistent.
- Nettles will be available, both Italian and English.
Potential Problems
- Round Lettuce, Iceberg, Cos (Romaine) and Baby Gem will also transition to English crops in May. Gem, Cos & Round Lettuce will be the first to switch in the first or second week with Iceberg following a week later. There are often shortages with these products during the change of season as the Spanish season doesn't quite overlap the UK season.
- Problematic/End of Season
- Wild Garlic will likely start to come to an end by the second week of the month.
Veg
Good/New Season
- Both Italian Fresh Peas and Italian Broad Beans should be plentiful with English both making appearance in the month. Italian Borlotti Beans also likely to be available.
- Look out this month for the arrival of new season Egyptian Wet Garlic, which is freshly harvested garlic that's been sent to market before it's had time to dry out as a result of a long period in storage. Therefore what you get is garlic thats milder, juicier, more tender and with and aroma that's less pungent.
- Both Jersey Royal Potatoes & Cornish Mids will be widely available with prices becoming more and more reasonable.
- Globe and Baby Artichokes will both be available and of excellent quality.
- Bunched Beetroot and Carrots both available.
- New Season English Hispi Cabbage will start in May. Spring Green Cabbage continues to be excellent quality.
- English Curly Kale available year round however be careful with Kale as it gets warmer as it can become yellow very quickly.
- Courgette Flowers are readily available throughout May.
Potential Problems
- May is a changeover month for Broccoli, we'll move from Spanish product to English. Depending on the conditions of both crops, the switchover can be turbulent. There's a good chance that new season English will be available before the end of the month and should be of excellent quality right from the start.
- New season, Morrocan/Turkish Corn-On-The-Cob will arrive early in the month, both of which should be of quite a good standard. French imports probably won't arrive until the end of the month and homegrown not until June. The first arrival will be very expensive and we don't recomend stocking until the end of the month.
- Savoy Cabbage will be Portuguese throughout the month and therefore more expensive than when UK is available. Cavolo Nero will be good quality throughout the month but more expensive as it’s imported.
- English grown Chantennay Carrots will finish with imported product becoming available.
- English Marrows will become available during May.
Problematic/End of Season
- English Parsnips will finish in the first week of the month. Imported product available but price will be much more expensive.