The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, January 29, 1997           TAG: 9701280098
SECTION: FLAVOR                  PAGE: F1   EDITION: FINAL 
COLUMN: MARKET REPORT 
SOURCE: BY KAREN SANTOS, VIRGINIAN-PILOT STAFF 
                                            LENGTH:   53 lines

FLORIDA FREEZE SENDS A CHILL THROUGH LOCAL GROCERY STORES

STICKER SHOCK. That's what grocery shoppers can expect the next few weeks in the produce departments. Prices have skyrocketed on many items because of a recent freeze in Florida, the top supplier to local markets.

Florida temperatures recently plunged to 24 degrees, destroying an estimated 85 percent of Dade County's green beans, yellow squash, zucchini, hot peppers and sweet peppers, and 75 percent of the sweet corn. Only 40 percent of the tomatoes were lost, because farmers sprayed them to form an insulating coat of ice, The Associated Press reported.

The price of strawberries probably won't be affected as much because the crop had some ice coverage to help protect the berries from deep freezes, said David Linder, director of produce, delicatessen and bakery for Camellia Foods.

Linder also said local grocers will begin buying products from Mexico, as will grocers throughout the United States.

``We are working on less than normal margins to try to ease some of the burden,'' Linder said.

Even though products will be available, the results are still great demand and high cost.

Here are some good produce buys for the week:

Rack & Sack has heads of lettuce for 57 cents each and sweet potatoes at 27 cents a pound.

Bananas are three pounds for $1 and Florida tangerines are five for $1 at Be-Lo.

Harris Teeter has 8-ounce packages of white mushrooms for 99 cents each.

Cauliflower is 98 cents a head and 4-pound bags of Sunkist seedless navel oranges are $1.88 at Farm Fresh.

Farmer Jack offers green cabbage at 18 cents a pound and Bosc pears for 77 cents a pound.

On the shelf

What's ugly, juicy and fragrant? Uniq fruit.

This citrus fruit, a cross between a mandarin orange and a grapefruit, has a sweet-acid flavor.

Uniq fruit is greenish-orange in color with a loose-fitting, lumpy skin. It resembles a slightly smashed unripe orange.

It can be peeled and eaten like a tangerine or a halved grapefruit. Just spoon out the sections.

This natural vitamin C provider is extremely juicy with few seeds.

The Jamaican product is available winter through spring at local grocers. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN

The Virginian-Pilot

Uniq fruit is a cross between a mandarin orange and a grapefruit


by CNB