Apricot harvesting in Washington ramped up this week, and the brief season is expected to peak through the first part of July. This year's early start put the state's fruit in more direct competition with California's supply of apricots, but Washington's shippers hope to find a good niche for their fruit.“Washington apricots have a very short window of availability,” explained Columbia Marketing International's Steve Lutz. “The crop comes on fast and provides a brief opportunity for customers to get a spectacular piece of fruit.”
There are about two weeks left of apricot picking for CMI, and the early start to the season has it competing with California's shippers. That's brought prices down for Washington fruit, but Lutz believes his state's fruit can find a place in a market that is still flush with California fruit.
“The market is a little messy right now because there's still a fair amount of California product in the pipeline,” said Lutz. “But we tend to believe that the fruit coming out of the Pacific Northwest are really superior eating fruit, and that's true for apricots.” With a bit of niche marketing, he thinks retailers would do well to find a place for Washington apricots during the few weeks they are around.
“There's a spot for quality, and our apricots are good for retailers who want to differentiate their products,” said Lutz. “This works for people who want to put fruit out there that consumers will come back for a second or third time. Sometimes that's big chain stores, though often it's smaller retailers.”
For more information:
Steve Lutz
Columbia Marketing International
+1 509 663 1955