Please remember these are expected truckloads coming to the OFB warehouse this week. Reminder: It will take a few days for items to appear in inventory depending on when the loads are received into the warehouse. Food is first received into the Statewide warehouse and then must be transformed/moved to the Metro and West warehouses, including a delivery to West.  These are estimates on what you can likely expect to see in the coming days/weeks, not when you will see them. Please reach out to the Metro Team (MWCS@oregonfoodbank.org) with questions, not the Operations Team. Thank you!

Inventory Update from Operations
We are in change moment for our food flow: the end of State-Funded product, the resumption of regular flows of Food To Buy, and a produce “Shoulder” season! 

State of Oregon/ OREM Funded product
All product that was funded through Oregon Office of Resiliency & Emergency Management (OREM) in response to the 2025 SNAP crisis has arrived at Oregon Food Bank. 

Food To Buy
Items available for purchase through the Food To Buy program are now available again in both variety and quantity. There are currently 10 shelf-stable products as well as fresh eggs. We will bring frozen meat items back when quality and price points allow.

USDA-TEFAP
For the months of February-June we expect to see 25-30 FTL of USDA product each month.  RFB’s should anticipate seeing 4-5 new products allocated each week, plus some Fresh Citrus. We have been informed by the USDA that due to vendor constraints all spaghetti and elbow pasta orders have been canceled for this time period. 

Donated Product
RFBs will see less donated frozen vegetables and potato products available in the future months. We have nearly exhausted our current supply and while the Food Resourcers are actively looking in the dark corners of donor freezers, there have been few leads. February did bring us the annual donation of Baking Mix that is made available to us through a long time partner, so be looking for that item available soon. 

We also have some delightful refrigerated kombucha that has expiration dates long in the future!  We encourage anyone who hasn’t brought in this product to their warehouse to take advantage of this refreshing offer. While you’re community is hydrating with kombucha, why not offer them some snacks and chips to go with it? We have a continuous supply of assorted Chips, crackers and cookies available by both the case and the pallet. 

Anticipated Loads - please see key below for interpretation

Anticipated Produce Loads - please see key below for interpretation

Greetings friends! 

As we enter into February we’ll start seeing more variety from our friends in California. USDA citrus season is kicking off the week of 2/25 and will continue through June! You should expect to see good volumes and a fun mix of mandarins, oranges and grapefruit weekly. I will continue to bring in non-USDA citrus as well for agencies that cannot bring in USDA crops.  

You should also expect to start seeing an increase in variety in the vegetable category. It’s been a slow start to the season. Unusually high pest pressure & rains in the Central & San Joaquin Valley did a number on the crops in these regions resulting in high prices and limited availability. The good news is row crops can be pulled and replanted limiting the length of time they are unavailable. Usually 4-12 weeks. Unlike fruit trees in the NW which take years to grow and bear fruit and once a crop is wiped out you have to wait another year to see how extensive the damage is. 

Our friends in the NW continue to have apples, beets, parsnips, rutabaga, turnips, onions, potatoes, pears and winter squash available so the lineup should please the masses.  Some of you might have noticed some unpleasant looking light yellow colored mold on the russet potatoes we sent out this week and early last week. The VAC did an amazing job sorting those out but I’m sure some got thru. I spoke with the donor and we will no longer be receiving potatoes afflicted with that particular issue. The mold is a result of a non-harmful bacteria in the soil. It is harmless but gross and hard to explain to clients so I have asked the donor to stop sending those. You should see clean, happy potatoes starting next week. 

Be well and bon appetite! 
You friend, Produce Kim