New PACA Licenses — July 10 to October 8, 2026

New PACA licenses fell 14 percent in the 90 days through October 8, to 788 from 912 the quarter before, but Texas and Illinois grew.

Blue Book Services

October 9, 2026

New PACA Licenses — July 10 to October 8, 2026

New PACA licenses fell 14 percent in the 90 days through October 8, to 788 from 912 the quarter before. Texas and Illinois moved the other way, and new Texas wholesaler licenses accounted for most of the Texas gain.

By State

California issued the most new licenses at 178, close to its spring pace. Texas rose 15 percent to 115, the only one of the four largest states to grow, and Illinois climbed to 24 from 14. Arizona, Florida, New York, Georgia and Pennsylvania each fell by more than a quarter, with Arizona down nearly half to 23.

State	New licenses	Prior quarter	Change
CA	178	184	−3 percent
TX	115	100	+15 percent
NY	75	103	−27 percent
FL	75	108	−31 percent
NJ	28	31	−10 percent
IL	24	14	+71 percent
AZ	23	44	−48 percent
GA	17	25	−32 percent
NC	17	18	−6 percent
PA	16	27	−41 percent

By License Type

Wholesaler licenses held close to steady nationally at 225, but the activity shifted between states. Texas wholesaler licenses rose to 56 from 34 and California’s to 68 from 45, while Florida’s fell to 34 from 53 and Illinois went to 10 from 4. Broker licenses fell 32 percent to 71, the steepest drop among the larger license types, and California broker licenses fell to 15 from 31, close to half of that decline.

License type	New licenses	Prior quarter	Change
Wholesaler	225	232	−3 percent
Retailer	166	191	−13 percent
Wholesale dealer	124	144	−14 percent
Broker	71	105	−32 percent
Processor	38	43	−12 percent
Grower	36	45	−20 percent
Shipper	25	35	−29 percent
Food service	17	31	−45 percent
Grower-agent	15	12	+25 percent
Commission merchant	13	23	−43 percent

Retail and foodservice licensing both slowed, with foodservice down 45 percent to 17. Grower-agent was the only license type in the top ten to grow, rising to 15 from 12.

Use these counts to decide where to look first, then check Blue Book for listed wholesalers in Texas, California and Illinois, where new wholesale licensing grew this quarter.