As growers throughout the state wrap up the nectarine and peach season in California, the season is finishing up the same way it started: with strong prices. Tight supplies of fruit are most likely the reason for the strong market, as demand has more than kept up with supplies.“With the same acreage, production has been substantially lighter for us this season,” said Maurice Cameron of The Flavor Tree Fruit Company in California's San Joaquin Valley. “Some varieties of peaches and nectarines have fared better than others, but I'd say that, on average, we've been about 20 percent lighter than last season.” He added that that's been the trend across the state, as less-than-ideal weather during winter made for low production.
“I think we got less chill hours this year, so the trees were just reacting to that,” said Cameron. “Across the board, there was less fruit, particularly in the southern growing regions during the start of the season. So the market was very tight and active because there was very little stone fruit at first.” That made for strong prices early in the season, which maintained their momentum as the season progressed. He estimated that some commodities were commanding prices 50 percent above what they garnered the previous season.
One of the upsides of the tight market, though, was the speed with which fruit moved through the supply chain. Because there wasn't much fruit to go around, there was little in storage and consumers got very fresh fruit. Consumers responded well to what was available and demand remained strong, as consumers weren't turned off by high prices because of the quality of fruit.
“Because of the lighter crop, brix levels were higher,” said Cameron. “Distribution was also faster, so there was no such thing as aged fruit in cold storage. So consumers got a nice product this year and sales were good.”
For more information:
Maurice Cameron
The Flavor Tree Fruit Company
+1 559 584 8888