Red Seedless – The red seedless crop will continue on steadily, as Flame seedless wind down on harvest and growers transition into the start of Scarlet Royal. Specialty varieties like Magenta and Sweet Celebration will either continue or start harvest depending upon grower and maturity. The quality looks strong and volume is consistent. Expect to see a bulk of the red seedless crop in September and October to allow for good promotions. Keep pushing on volume for the next 3 – 4 months thanks to a late start.
Green Seedless – The green seedless crop has seen decent supplies, but overall a late start due to lower sugars in the field and high temps keeping crews only working ½ days. Ivory, Valley Pearly, and Sugraone have been the majority of the green harvested so far this season. Sugar and quality have been the biggest focus, with some mildew and lower sugar issues being seen in the field. There is expected to be good supplies, but a split market for a majority of the season between lower and high-end flashy fruit. Promote greens as volume will start to accumulate in September, but be weary of quality.
Black Seedless – Summer Royal will continue to make up a majority of the black seedless volume being harvested. Quality is good, with good crop volume harvesting. Expected to stay consistent for the next 2 – 3 weeks, with Autumn Royal just behind it on the first start of harvest in September. Keep black seedless in the mix.
Red Globe – Red Globe volume out of Central CA is significantly decreased due to growers digging them out and replacing with seedless varieties. Only a few select growers still grow Red Globe. This will help to keep FOB’s high, purely due to the lack of fruit, not due to demand. Harvest has just started and will carry into late November.
California Tree Fruit
Yellow Nectarine – we are in the last hurrah for the season. August Fire and September Bright will bring the last promotable volume of the season. Harvest will continue for another 10 days, with volume decreasing each day. Expect harvest to finish by the end of the month and only light supplies carry into the first few weeks of September. Decent demand and low harvest volume have helped to keep FOB’s at a decent level.
Yellow Peach – the CA yellow peach crop will keep rolling into the home stretch of September. Demand has been okay, but local crops in all states have hampered movement slightly. FOB’s have firmed as growers have either diverted fruit to the freezer/processing or stopped packing smaller sizes. Expect the market to slowly firm going into September as growers slowly start to finish out for the season. Supplies will carry into October with late growers. Continue to push.
White Nectarine – Similar to yellows, we are on the home stretch for white nectarines for the season. Supplies will start to wind down quickly as we hit September, with the lower color Arctic Mist variety to finish out the season. Expect another 3 weeks of supplies, then a quick finish.
White Peach – White peaches will finish soon, as September Snow are harvesting and will bring the last harvest volume of the season. Staining has kept pack-outs light. Expect fruit to reach the start of September, and then move towards a quick finish. FOB’s will stay firm due to good export demand before season end.
Plums – The plum market will slowly firm as we reach the last varieties of the season. Black plums have finished with Owen T, with some growers harvesting Black Kats. Angelino will bring the last volume of the season with harvest starting in September. Red Plums will move into the last few varieties as Fortune has finished out and specialty varieties are harvesting on lighter volume. Flavor-Fall will bring the last volume of the season in September. Expected decent supplies of both colors to carry through September into a mid-October finish. FOB’s will firm as the crop volume drops off.
Import Citrus
Clementines – We continue in one of the longest clementine gaps from Chile in recent memory. Crop volume was off by 18% on clementines as they finished early. Both coasts are not meeting demand as arrival volume is non-existent. Murcott variety is running behind schedule on the harvest, with the first good arrivals not expected to hit until the start of September. Avoid any ad promos for the next 2 – 3 weeks as the fruit will remain very tight. Murcott will allow some promotions in mid-September to October. Navel Orange – the navel orange market will stay aggressively priced as the good volume will continue to arrive in both coasts. 48’s and 56’s demand good FOB’s for premium customers. A majority of volume will land in the 72 and 88 size structures, with importers looking to push for movement on those size structures. Consistent supply is expected to continue for the next month, and then the volume will slow down in late September as harvest winds down. Expect FOB’s to stay aggressive now to move through the arrival volume, and then firm going into October.
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