Supplies of Mexican blackberries will start to move into the more traditional parts of the country in the next week or two as the newest growing regions finish their peak growth and production dwindles there. While the early growing regions look to have better weather than in previous weeks, it looks like the more traditional regions will have some of that to contend with in the short term.
"We're about to move to the more traditional growing regions of Los Reyes and Zamora, in Michoacán, as well as Jalisco," said Zach DeHart of Fresh Results. "The newer growing areas, such as Tacámbaro, in Michoacán, and Colima, are seasonally plagued with more rain, but we have managed to move a larger amount of production than ever before. These regions will finish their peak this week. As the traditional growing regions crank up, more players will be in the game, and there is expected to be an abundance of fruit during the rest of October and November. Some of the earliest reports we received out of Los Reyes, was that there were many vines that had a vegetative state, meaning they would not be producing fruit with the first crop, but this still needs a few weeks to be confirmed."
"We have had record setting rainfall amounts earlier this season, accompanied with hail, as well as one confirmed hurricane," continued DeHart. “Quality issues such as red cell are the most common issues when dealing this kind of wet weather. This has caused us to grade fruit very hard at the border, in south Texas, and again, prior to shipment. A lot of re-grading has taken place, ultimately hurting the grower returns."
Prices and demand soft
The demand for blackberries has been good as prices remained elevated during recent weeks. A lack of quality fruit has also kept some retailers on the sidelines as they waited for bigger yields and a subsequent drop in price. “
"There's a lot of product coming onto the market now," said DeHart. "The traditional regions typically produce the bulk of the blackberries that come out of Mexico and we're seeing that volume start up now. Demand has been a little sluggish and, as a result, Fresh Results put a few retailers on aggressive ad campaigns to move the kind of volume that was crossing. Retailers have been waiting for lower prices and greater volumes which there is now. Prices have been as high as $12 - $14, and in the last two weeks, that has dropped to $8 or $10 FOB. With the volume of blackberries picking up in those traditional regions, there's going to be a lot more promotions for retailers."
Quality high as suppliers stress freshness
Although some of the fruit during the September harvest was lost due to the enormous amounts of rainfall, DeHart observed that quality has picked up. He also noted that keeping the fruit cold as well as rapid transportation was the key to maintaining good freshness right through to the customer. “The best thing we can do for the retailer, is price it to move off the shelves in their stores, clean the floor every day, and keep it cold. We have spent more on trucking than in years past due to trying to keep the time on a truck down. This helps the quality of the product on arrival to the customer.”
"Quality is looking great right now," he continued. "Our sugar levels have been reading 10 or 13 Brix which indicates a good level of sweetness for our blackberries. They're a delicate fruit that needs to be handled with care."
For more information:
Zach DeHart
Fresh Results, llc
Tel: 217-607-0534