Top Katz LLC

    Office (718) 861-1933 Fax (718) 861-9011   Cell  (917) 797 -9000 Redpepperking@   live.com   Redpepperking@Gmail.com

                                                           Jan 18, 2012

Good morning,

                         Please excuse the brevity of this report I am feeling very much under the weather. Who know maybe the report will be better if I am delirious?

RED PEPPERS – The volume has finally come! This market has dropped to very good retail levels but I believe it still can drop a little further before it stabilizes.

YELLOW PEPPERS – Same as red peppers

GREEN PEPPERS – In my opinion there are too many green peppers in the South, McAllen and Nogales   to support these prices. I Think this market will drop like a rock.

GREEN SQUASH – I have to say the past 2 weeks this has been the most orderly rise I have EVER seen with all the squashes. I think it was outstanding! Saying that I loaded more green and yellow and grey squash yesterday than I have in 2 weeks. I hope the way down is as controlled as the way up but that remains to be seen.

YELLOW SQUASH – More available, this market could drop even faster than green squash.

GREY SQUASH – Not as abundant as the other two but the scenario is the same.

CUCUMBERS – More volume prices will be lower.

PICKLES – There will be less volume this week. Prices will  higher.

EGGPLANTS – The have already dropped a significant amount.

Plenty of #2’s available.

TOMATOES ALL TOMATOES Are at or near the minimum. Time to promote!!

WATERMELONS – They have dropped off their highs but I think they should go a little lower.

KABOCHA SQUASH – Problems in many lots! Good stuff will bring more moneyif available.

ACORN, BUTTERNUT, SPAGHETTI SQUASH – All are higher and are steady.

HONEW DEWS  Next week 

Top Katz LLC now has 3 locations to help serve you better!

      By being centrally located in the largest produce market in the world, the NYC Terminal Market, it allows us the opportunity to be onsite for arrivals and forefront for market trends. Top Katz - West, our Nogales, AZ office,  allows us the opportunity to import, source and inspect all Mexican and West coast commodities. Our latest addition, Top Katz - Texas, located in McAllen, TX, allows us to now import , source and inspect from the east coast of Mexico a few new items like watermelons, limes, avocados, papayas, specialty peppers and mangoes.   

     We continue to grow our  import program from South America with items like kaboucha, butternut squash, and honeydew melons and we are also able to provide you with a complete year-round mango program  . We believe our three locations will offer uninterrupted high-quality products throughout the season.  

     We also offer inspection services with pictures, load consolidation, in/out services as well as buying and brokerage services.  Try our services for a week free of charge! We are confident if you try us for a week, you will be with us for a lifetime.

THANK YOU

Paul Manfre

                                  Top Katz LLC

            Office (718) 861-1933 Fax (718) 861-9011   Cell  (917) 797 -9000

           Redpepperking@Gmail.com              Redpepperking@live.com

                                                              January 10, 2012

Good morning,

                        Trying to make sense where there is no sense. Happy New Year! For the past several weeks I have heard from almost every shipper in Nogales and Mcallen that we have volume coming, tomorrow, next week, next month but the truth is except for some isolated instances the volume has not materialized. I am not speaking about the cold temperatures which we know have a slowing affect on the crops. This scenario was playing out before this happened. Seems everyone is perplexed? I have 2 hypothesis. First the produce is staying South or going other places besides the US border towns. The world is a much smaller place and Mexico has wonderful produce that can and is shipped everywhere. Also consumption of Mexican produce in Mexico is up so they are eating much of what they grow. The second possible reason, and I hope this is not the case, is that there is a problem at the field, plant or seed level and the plants are not producing like they should? I don’t know if either of these scenarios are right or wrong or maybe it is a combination of both? Only time will tell. I can say this up until this last week it has been very opportunistic to have less stuff not more. Busines has been lethargic at best and demand has been nonexistent. Had there been normal volume many if not all markets would have been in the basement. It’s going to be an interesting year.

GREEN SQUASH – It’s no secret how I feel about  markets at these levels! I do believe this time, in the short term, it is warranted. The problem has been in the past as the volume increases shippers tend to keep the prices at the levels they were when the items were short. I believe we are only a few days away from this. You brought it up slow now let’s bring it down slow when the time is right.

YELLOW SQUASH – It wil take a little longer to fill demand on yellow squash but the same scenario but maybe a week later.

GREY SQUASH – This slide has already started. Increased supplies but not increased demand.

RED PEPPERS – This market was ready to slide but I believe with  GREEN PEPPERS going from cheap to HEAT in a few days gave the red pepper market a short reprieve. I do believe this  will be short lived and red peppers will slide more until we arrive at it’s new level. One thing to keep in mind is that if the Green pepper market stays strong growers have been known to pick their colored bells green to catch the market. What this means 3 weeks after they do this we will have a very short colored bell market due to this practice.

YELLOW PEPPERS  Same as red.

GREEN PEPPERS  Demand exceeds supplies.

EGGPLANTS – This market has gone up too fast and should take a breather. There are too many #2 eggplants that are very good and it makes me skeptical about any shortage in this market.

CUCUMBERS – This market is very good. Historically Honduran cucumbers are good for the first 2 or 3 shipments and then are terrible. We are now in terrible territory.

PICKLES – Will follow the cucumber market.

ROMA TOMATOES – Volume is increasing  but not demand. This market will be lower.

WATERMELONS – They hit their top and it’s time to settle to a new lower level.

Kabocha, Butternut, Spaghetti  - All are in good volume. The market is steady. Be careful of your lots. Some have been around a while.

ACORN  Demand good supplies are available but not abundant.

We now have our McAllen office open as well as our Nogales office. We offer inspection services with pictures, load consolidation, in/out services as well as buying and brokerage services. Try it for a week on us, if you don’t like us fire us!! Please visit us at www.Topkatz.com for industry news, product availability and quality and inspection reports. Thank you.

                                       Top Katz LLC

           Office (718) 861-1933 Fax (718) 861-9011   Cell  (917) 797 -9000

           Redpepperking@Gmail.com              Redpepperking@live.com

                                                           December 20, 2011

Good morning,

                      MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY CHAUNKHA  and if you don’t believe in anything try to be happy.

 Well if you were on the naughty list this report would be much easier to write, I don’t see too much holiday cheer here. I have been in this business for 35 years and this time of year was ALWAYS busy. Granted it “wasn’t what it used to be”( but what really is) but it was always busy. This year I see absolutely no demand on every item across the board. I don’t see anything good to say about any market in the near term. Thank GOD, yes I believe in him, he was smart enough to cool things off in Mexico with cooler temperatures for the week so volume will decline. This is literally a Godsend because the last thing we need right now is more volume with this lethargic demand.

  You have heard me beat this drum before but here we go again. Times have changed the economy is not good and it looks to me like it will be worse before it gets better. The days of “WE HAVE TO HAVE IT” produce item are over. Consumers at every level want and more importantly need value. They gyrate to what is reasonably priced and shun high price items. What this means is to arbitrarily raise price because you sell out in a day has not worked in the past and will continue not to work until we get back to “irrational exuberance “ which is unlikely for a while. On the retail side we need to sell those items that are long and reasonable at shipping points and feature them to cunsumers at a reasonable and fair price,( not 300% profit margins) to keep the produce moving from Farm to table! Working as a team will help all of us. We grow buy and sell the best product on the planet let’s work together to make it better!

 Christmas wish – On my Facebook page you can watch a youtube video. It is how one person can start a chain reaction of kindness. So my subscription price for this report is for everyone to do something nice for a total stranger from today until CHRISTmas and beyond. One act of kindness would be good and  more would be better!  Now if you don’t like this report and you think this is my way out? No no no since you hate it so much I will send it to you twice. LOl Come on let’s all be nice. This may be the one thing we can bring back to “THE WAY IT USE TO BE”

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

Paul Manfre

We now have our McAllen office open as well as our Nogales office. We offer inspection services with pictures, load consolidation, in/out services as well as buying and brokerage services. Try it for a week on us, if you don’t like us fire us!! Please visit us at www.Topkatz.com for industry news, product availability and quality and inspection reports. Thank you.

                                    Top Katz LLC

             Office (718) 861-1933 Fax (718) 861-9011   Cell  (917) 797 -9000

           Redpepperking@Gmail.com              Redpepperking@live.com

                                                                    December 13, 2011

Good morning!

            I take off a week and everything gets messed up. What is wrong with this picture? Let’s get right to it.

GREEN SQUASH – If you made a bet that green squash would crash every time it hit the 16.95 level, baring a significant supply

problem, you would win that bet most of the time. This time is no exception. Warmer temperatures will return and so will the squash and lower prices.

YELLOW SQUASH – SAME

GREY SQUASH SAME

RED PEPPERS – As predicted we had the little dip. The dip is over the demand will increase and this market will stay strong into the new year.

YELLOW PEPPERS – same

GREEN PEPPERS – Demand is weak and this market is weaker.

CUCUMBERS – I believe this market has topped out. The possibility for a lower market is better than a possibility for a higher market.

EGGPLANTS – Supplies are short but demand is weak. I don’t know which side of the equation wins out here? My guess is demand and prices will pick up.

ROMA TOMATOES – This market will be higher.

WATERMELONS – Supplies are tight demand is good. This market is strong.

HONEY DEWS- This market is steady at it’s new higher level.

Sorry for such a short report. I must still be in vacation mode.

Have a great day!

Paul Manfre,

We now have our McAllen office open as well as our Nogales office. We offer inspection services with pictures, load consolidation, in/out services as well as buying and brokerage services. Try it for a week on us, if you don’t like us fire us!! Please visit us at www.Topkatz.com for industry news, product availability and quality and inspection reports. Thank you.

                                        Top Katz LLC

  Office (718) 861-1933 Fax (718) 861-9011   Cell  (917) 797 -9000 Redpepperking@   live.com   Redpepperking@Gmail.com

                                                                             November 29, 2011

Good morning,

          I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are now in what I consider 1 of the worst weeks of the year, there are 7 others. The worse news is that next week it will be a little better but it still makes the top 8. Cooler to colder temperatures in some of the growing areas and seasonal shifts to different growing regions will keep supplies down but unfortunately demand is down even more. This will keep some market in check BUT by the middle to the end of next week there should be an increase in demand and hopefully in supplies or these markets can take off just in time for Christmas. HO HO HO.

RED PEPPERS – Demand exceeds supplies

YELLOW PEPPERS – Demand far exceeds supplies

GREEN PEPPERS – This market is steady with a stronger undertone.

GREEN SQUASH – Only one place to go…up  but not for a few more days to a week.

YELLOW SQUASH – Too many and too few takers but this too should change next week.

GREY SQUASH – This market is steady

EGGPLANTS – What’s the problem? I have looked at many different labels at destinations on the EAST coast. They are ALL arriving soft. This has been a recurring problem for the past several years which has taken eggplant that EVERYONE wanted from December to Easter to a product that no one, on the East coast, wants unless there are no Southern Eggplants. We need to fix this?

CUCUMBERS – As predicted have come way off their highs and now are reasonable in Nogales, McAllen and the South. This I believe will be short lived and this market can and will be higher, especially on super selects.

ROMA TOMATOES – This market has been trying to find it’s new lower level and I believe we have reached it. COLD to freezing   temperatures in Torreon and parts of Matehuala should pick up buyers interest.

HONEY DEWS -  Demand is weak.

CANTALOUPES -  Good volume, demand is weak and this market is trying to find its level. This market will be lower.

WATERMELON – It seems in the summer you can’t sell them unless it is VERY hot and humid but in the Winter you can’t sell them unless it’s cold? I don’t get it either but it was in the 60’s the last few days in New York so we are about 30 degrees away from this market getting better.

KABOCHA – Its all going East, no not East coast but Far East, Japan. Supplies dried up quickly and demand is good. This market is steady.

SPAGHETTI SQUASH – Quality and volume is improving. Market is steady.

ACORN & BUTTERNUT SQUASH These markets are steady.

I will be in Nogales from December 5^th to the 10^th. Come and join me in beautiful Nogales Arizona and watch what we do and how we do it, Ill even buy you lunch.

      Top Katz LLC now has 3 locations to help serve you better!  By being centrally located in the largest produce market in the world, the NYC Terminal Market, it allows us the opportunity to be onsite for arrivals and forefront for market trends. Top Katz - West, our Nogales, AZ office,  allows us the opportunity to import, source and inspect all Mexican and West coast commodities. Our latest addition, Top Katz - Texas, located in McAllen, TX, allows us to now import , source and inspect from the east coast of Mexico a few new items like watermelons, limes, avocados, papayas, specialty peppers and mangoes.   

     We continue to grow our  import program from South America with items like kaboucha, butternut squash, and honeydew melons and we are also able to provide you with a complete year-round mango program  . We believe our three locations will offer uninterrupted high-quality products throughout the season.  

     We also offer inspection services with pictures, load consolidation, in/out services as well as buying and brokerage services.

     Try our services for a week free of charge! We are confident if you try us for a week, you will be with us for a lifetime.

                                          Top Katz LLC

      Office (718) 861-1933 Fax (718) 861-9011   Cell  (917) 797 -9000 Redpepperking@live.com   Redpepperking@Gmail.com

                                                                       November 22, 2011

                                      Please visit www.topkatz.com for beautiful produce pictures and important information.

Good morning,

                         I am writing this report on my return flight from Nogales.  I feel very blessed that I get to do business with some wonderful people in this wonderful and beautiful place. During my trip I noticed 2 things about the products that were available.

One, generally the merchandise is for the most part from good to outstanding in most warehouses. Two, for the most part there is not an over abundance of anything. The second statement is the most important and can have profound affects on the markets going forward. I would have to say from my point of view and the general consensus in Nogales the holiday pull was a push. We all are well aware what the business is like after the holiday…BLAH

My point? There was not the amount of product that I would usually see this time of year available in Nogales. Yes shippers were stuck with product but it wasn’t being stuck with 10 loads it was being stuck with 10 skids! There was generally a lack of volume everywhere! SO what are the profound effects? If there was any business at all these markets can and will  take off! Conversely, if the volume all of a sudden shows up and business  does not pick up we can have the same bloodbath we saw last year before the freeze? Markets were so cheap you couldn’t give the stuff away. I hope we don’t have a repeat of that this year but only time will tell?

RED PEPPERS – Demand exceeds supplies. There will be a decrease in interest the week after Thanksgiving, as always, but this market should stay strong until the New year.

YELLOW PEPPERS – Demand exceeds supplies times two.

GREEN PEPPERS -  Every time they try to raise the market it falls on it’s face. Maybe  we should stop trying to raise it for a while?

GREEN SQUASH – As I said last week the market does not have far to fall because it was priced reasonably. However it will be lower than last week.

YELLOW SQUASH – Same as green squash.

GREY SQUASH – It will be lower too.

CUCUMBERS – Right on schedule. This market will be lower.

EGGPLANTS – The party is over, Sorry lower too.

ROMA TOMATOES – Demand is weak this market will be lower

WATERMELONS – Supplies are short but it seems like no one cares. This market has nowhere to go but down

HONEY DEWS – Market is steady

KABOCHA SQUASH -  Demand is very good on this item. The increased volume seems to get  sold. I believe this market will be lower but only slightly.

ACORN & BUTTERNUT SQUASH – Steady as a rock

SPAGHETTI SQUASH – The market is still short and demand is good.

To all of you and yours from all of us at TopKatz please have a healthy and happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you

Paul Manfre

Top Katz LLC now has 3 locations to help serve you better!

      By being centrally located in the largest produce market in the world, the NYC Terminal Market, it allows us the opportunity to be onsite for arrivals and forefront for market trends. Top Katz - West, our Nogales, AZ office,  allows us the opportunity to import, source and inspect all Mexican and West coast commodities. Our latest addition, Top Katz - Texas, located in McAllen, TX, allows us to now import , source and inspect from the east coast of Mexico a few new items like watermelons, limes, avocados, papayas, specialty peppers and mangoes.   

     We continue to grow our  import program from South America with items like kaboucha, butternut squash, and honeydew melons and we are also able to provide you with a complete year-round mango program  . We believe our three locations will offer uninterrupted high-quality products throughout the season.  

     We also offer inspection services with pictures, load consolidation, in/out services as well as buying and brokerage services. Try our services for a week free of charge! We are confident if you try us for a week, you will be with us for a lifetime.

                                 Top Katz LLC

       Office (718) 861-1933 Fax (718) 861-9011   Cell  (917) 797 -9000

           Redpepperking@Gmail.com              Redpepperking@live.com

                                                                     November 9, 2011

Good morning,

                         Sorry for the 1 day delay but yesterday was the New York Produce show and it  kept me occupied for the past couple of days. Thank you to all the vendors and attendees for another successful show. Demand has been lethargic in the Northeast which has kept prices down. Supplies have admittedly  been light but demand is even lighter. Many of you already know how I feel about this but let me reiterate DEMAND makes a market not supplies or lack of them. Hopefully demand will pick up because prices on many items have been too cheap for too long.

RED PEPPERS – Supplies are declining and demand is increasing and prices will be higher.

YELLOW PEPPERS – Same scenario as red peppers but I believe more severe and demand will probably exceed supplies for the holiday season.

GREEN SQUASH – There will be a gradual increase in prices leading up to Thanksgiving. If history repeats itself it will go higher than necessary so it can crash the week of Thanksgiving more than necessary.

YELLOW SQUASH – Same as green squash

GREY SQUASH -  I believe grey squash will be higher.

CUCUMBERS – I believe we toped out. The weather should be more favorable and I believ the volume will start arriving shortly.

EGGPLANTS – Same as cucumbers

PICKLES – Same as eggplants.

ROMA TOMATOES – This market will be higher!

WATERMELONS – I believe we have another week at these low levels then the market should start creeping higher.

HONEY DEWS – Demand is good and getting better, prices will follow.

ACORN, BUTTERNUT, SPAGHETTI AND KABOCHA SQUASH. Steady as she goes.

 We now have our McAllen office open as well as our Nogales office. We offer inspection services with pictures, load consolidation, in/out services as well as buying and brokerage services. Try it for a week on us, if you don’t like us fire us!! Please visit us at www.Topkatz.com for industry news, product availability and quality and inspection reports. Thank you.

                           Top Katz LLC

  Office (718) 861-1933 Fax (718) 861-9011   Cell  (917) 797 -9000            Redpepperking@ live.com   Redpepperking@Gmail.com

Please visit www.topkatz.com for beautiful produce pictures and important information.

                                                                 November 1, 11

Good morning!

       Weather weather everywhere and makes you stop and think? Cool and getting cooler temperatures in Mexico. Ice and snow storms in the Northeast and that was in October!

 On the supply side there will definitely be less squash, cucumbers and peppers available. Hopefully this will help get prices out of the basement which I believe it will in the squash category. On the demand side I just don’t see any. This should put a lid on any artificial exuberance in regard to prices. It has been the norm in the past for shippers to raise prices too quickly

at the mention of cooler or wetter weather, hopefully this practive will stop? “ Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome? Get the point?

GREEN, YELLOW & GREY SQUASH – They have been at the bottom too long and this week there will be a change and these markets will be higher

CUCUMBERS – This market started of well and it remains strong. I believe it should stay right where it is and keep it moving. I also believe that it will be taken higher despite what I think. This usually leads to a market that is inflated and then falls flat on it’ face. Please read the quote at the end of the first paragraph.

PICKLES – The party is over unless something dramatic changes it. This market was taken up too high as previously mentioned and now comes the crash! This market will be $8 to $10 lower as soon as today. There is a lot more volume and retail was taken out of the picture with 24.95 FOB’s

RED & YELLOW PEPPERS – Seasonal decline out of Northern and Central California and the Coachella deal is underway in a small way. This market will be higher.

EGGPLANTS – This market is good and demand is excellent. This market will be steady to higher.

HONEY DEWS – Quality is improving which should help move the product at it’s new lower level.

WATERMELONS -  Supplies are increasing. This market will be slightly lower.

ROMA TOMATOES – No change here

KABOCHA SQUASH – Very short especially on large sizes. They will be starting out of Mexico this week but the color is usually very light for the first week or two which makes it a hard sell.

BUTTURNUT SQUASH – STEADY

ACORN SQUASH – Higher and may become short very quickly.

     By being centrally located in the largest produce market in the world, the NYC Terminal Market, it allows us the opportunity to be onsite for arrivals and forefront for market trends. Top Katz - West, our Nogales, AZ office,  allows us the opportunity to import, source and inspect all Mexican and West coast commodities. Our latest addition, Top Katz - Texas, located in McAllen, TX, allows us to now import , source and inspect from the east coast of Mexico a few new items like watermelons, limes, avocados, papayas, specialty peppers and mangoes.   

     We continue to grow our  import program from South America with items like kaboucha, butternut squash, and honeydew melons and we are also able to provide you with a complete year-round mango program  . We believe our three locations will offer uninterrupted high-quality products throughout the season.  We also offer inspection services with pictures, load consolidation, in/out services as well as buying and brokerage services.

   Try our services for a week free of charge! We are confident if you try us for a week, you will be with us for a lifetime