“Our focus is to manage our growers’ apple supply to meet customer demand on a year-round basis,” says Erin Smith with Rainier Fruit Company. “With last year’s ample crop, we should have enough supply until the new crop arrives. Our inventory is tracking to finish up by the 2015 harvest. Overall movement in the industry has been good, but with the expected early crop, there is a possibility that some shippers may experience an overlap of crop years,” said Smith. Rainier Fruit Company expects to begin the 2015 harvest between mid and late August with Galas.
“The Red Delicious variety constitutes about 40 percent of industry storage levels,” mentioned Smith. Trade restrictions and slowdowns at West Coast ports greatly limited movement of this primary export variety. In addition, as the Red Delicious falls out of favor with consumers, supply will continue to outpace demand.
Aggressive pricing
Increased supply from last year’s crop has translated into more aggressive pricing at the retail level. “There are still plenty of opportunities to promote apples during the summer months before the new crop arrives,” mentioned Smith. This allows for apples to continue their staple status in the shopping basket this summer. “Although general pricing is trending slightly lower than in short supply years, prices of apples are mostly holding steady”, she said. Newer, more popular varieties like Honeycrisp continue to command strong prices while many of the major apple varieties are experiencing declines.
It is too early to provide firm numbers, but according to the latest estimates, this year’s apple crop is expected to be high as well.
For more information:
Erin Smith
Rainier Fruit Company
Tel: (+1) 509-697-6131