The US melon market is at the midpoint of its import season with good volumes currently coming out of Central America for the cantaloupe and honeydew melons. Tom Ferguson, VP of Sales, at Classic Fruit Company says: “Guatemala started slow at the beginning of the import season, but everything is now on track and we are hitting all of our projected numbers.”
The company’s main farm, Classic Guatemala, is located in the Zacapa valley of Guatemala. “With our program, cantaloupes make up approximately 70% of the volume with honeydews accounting for the other 30%. This is due to the consumption patterns we see in the retail, processing and foodservice sectors,” Ferguson shares. Classic Fruit also has a seedless watermelon program from Guatemala from January through March.
Good sizing and quality
The weather has been optimal in Guatemala with dry/hot conditions. This has helped produce melons of good quality and sizing. Ferguson says: “The weather has been fantastic. It’s currently summer in Central America so the weather has been very conducive to proper sizing and the market currently has a good supply of 9s and larger.”
He adds: “The quality has been excellent too. There’s good external quality on both the cantaloupe and honeydews and we have also had very good internal quality with consistently high brix levels.”
Demand expected to increase in March
Currently, the demand in the US is a little low, but this is expected to ramp up as March approaches. “The demand here certainly relies on favorable weather patterns and there’s been some very cold temperatures in the northern parts of the country in recent weeks which has lowered demand. Spring is right around the corner and March presents promotable volumes and a definite increase in consumption through the remainder of the import season.”
Weather issues have reduced the volumes of honeydews and watermelons coming out of Mexico, and, shares Ferguson, the melons that have been sent into the market have encountered some quality issues. “This has created openings for us in the market.” Despite this, the pricing currently is low. “During December we had a solid cantaloupe market and a very good honeydew market, but both settled in the middle of January and right now the markets have been mostly in the low double digits on the east coast.”
“We are looking forward to a healthy spring, starting in March, which will bring some excellent promotable time periods over the final eight to ten weeks of the import season,” Ferguson concludes.
Classic Guatemala is at the forefront in promoting sustainability in surrounding communities by providing assistance to their workers both economically and socially, a reforestation program and giving back to the local townships. For more information and pictures of their sustainability program in Guatemala please be sure to follow Classic Fruit on Facebook.
For more information: 
Tom Ferguson
Classic Fruit Company
Tel: +1 (954) 426-0775
Email: tferguson@classicfruit.com
www.classicfruit.com