It's a busy time for the California table grape season, with strong promotional activity along with demand ensuring steady movement. Production is still ramping up, with the San Joaquin Valley set to peak in September. But suppliers believe the current state of the market will mean grapes will continue to move strongly and prices will remain better than last year.
"Overall movement in July and August has been brisk, bolstered by strong retail program business currently in place," said Ira Greenstein of Direct Source Marketing. "Additionally, the USDA has implemented a tariff relief program that purchases close to 100 loads of California table grapes every month. Although FOB pricing is still at or below break-even levels, general market quotes and overall on-hand inventories are significantly better in comparison to last year."
The latest estimates are suggesting the overall crop numbers will be down on initial estimates. This year's wet spring is coming back to taint the current harvest, with quality issues starting to become apparent. "Growers and shippers in the Central San Joaquin Valley are working through a bumper table grape crop originally estimated at over 115 million 19# cartons," Greenstein explained. "Due to the extremely wet spring, we are beginning to see some quality issues in the fields, which has some rethinking the overall crop numbers. Most recently, the California table grape commission has stated they believe the overall crop will now fall below 108 million total cartons."
Red seedless movement still strong
The red seedless crop is reportedly beginning to see some of these aforementioned quality issues, however suppliers say the majority of the fruit is able to meet retail specifications. Flame seedless is making way now for other varieties like Scarlet Royal, Krissy, Magenta and Timco, and the market is currently steady.
"The bulk of the Flame Seedless crop has been harvested, although there are still fair supplies available packed in totes in cold storages," Greenstein observed. "Pricing on good quality red seedless currently ranges from $12.95-$13.95 on medium/large, $14.95-$15.95 on large and $15.95-$17.95 on x-large with the mostly market at $16.95. We have seen higher pricing on Sweet Celebrations and Jack Salutes but only a select few growers are able to obtain these levels. Expectations are to see pricing remain where it is through the balance of the month as marketers continue to offer aggressive promotional pricing on California red seedless grapes."
Production boost for green seedless
Green seedless grapes have been lagging behind red varieties in terms of production, but have maintained a higher price point since the start of the main California season. With better volume now coming through on other varieties including Great Green, Ivory, Princess and other proprietary varieties, prices are still strong but beginning to more closely match with red varieties. According to Greenstein, demand has been strong on the domestic and export markets for both red and green table grapes.
"Even with the trade disruptions in the Chinese market, overall export demand still remains fairly strong on both green and red seedless," he said. "Growers and shippers are fetching anywhere between $16.95-$20.95 for export quality fruit, and expectations are to see this trend continue through the balance of the month. Pricing on good quality green seedless for the domestic market currently ranges from $13.95-14.95 on medium/large, $15.95-$16.95 on large and $16.95-$18.95 on x-large with the mostly market at $16.95. Look for these FOB’s to remain at these levels through the month of September as the Central Valley hits its peak production of green seedless grapes."
Black seedless also transitioning
Black seedless grapes are also transitioning through to other varieties as production of Summer Royals begins to wind down. Suppliers are reporting that quality and condition are still very good and movement is also steady.
"Pricing on Summer Royals currently ranges from $14.95-$16.95 on large and $16.95-$18.95 on x-large with the mostly market at $16.95," Greenstein concluded. "We are seeing good production of Midnight black seedless and firm FOB’s ranging from $18.95-$22.95. Growers and shippers will begin to transition over to Autumn Royal by the end of the month with excellent opportunities to promote through the month of September."
For more information:
Ira Greenstein
Direct Source Marketing
Ph: +1 (914) 241-4434
ira@directsourcemktg.com
www.directsourcemktg.com