The Chilean mandarin season is winding down as the North American market makes way for European citrus imports.
“The Murcott mandarins have been coming in from Chile. We’re probably going to receive them through the next two weeks,” says Dan Carapella of Catania New Jersey of Vineland, NJ. “That gives us until about mid-November to finish.”
Slow and late start
Carapella notes that clementines from Chile got off to a late start this season—early June they arrived with limited supplies. “It wasn’t until July that we actually saw some numbers coming in which was late this year by about three weeks, due mostly to weather conditions,” says Carapella. The early season also saw lighter supplies from Chile.
Despite the late start, the season will end as per usual. “You want to get the Murcotts here before the Spanish and Moroccan shipments start arriving in November,” says Carapella. “They do overlap a little bit but only by a couple of weeks. Some customers prefer the Murcott over the early season Clementines.”
Meanwhile demand for Chilean fruit has been consistent. “The fruit did come in and go out to in timely fashion” says Carapella. “Within 10 days to two weeks, it’s packed up to customers specifications and shipped out which is a good turnaround.”
Pricing on the fruit has seen a recent push upwards. “Right now Murcotts are selling in a 10x3 lb. bags $28-$30. Within that category there is some seeded fruit but it’s really region by region. The true seedless Marmots are probably getting the higher end of the $30 on that,” says Carapella. He notes that the price just picked up last week—it had been down to $26-$28/box and now it’s mostly $28-$29/box.” He attributes that to not only lighter supplies but also increased demand, such as the back-to-school push for a lunchbox-friendly fruit such as clementines.
“Looking ahead, I think we’ll have a nice smooth transition to the European deal,” says Carapella. “We’ll carry fruit until mid-November from South America and usually that’s when Spain and Morocco start here. They tend to have good supply for Thanksgiving business.”
For more information:
Dan Carapella
Catania New Jersey
Tel: +1 (856) 563-1246
dcarapella@catanianewjersey.com
http://cataniaworldwide.ca/new-jersey/