An early look at the Florida grapefruit season shows a season with more fruit on the tree that’s also clean and has strong internal quality in Brix and acid. “Where we’re behind compared to last season’s crop is the fruit size. However, we are hopeful that the fruit still has time to size before achieving maturity,” says Melanie Sallin Ressler, co-CEO of IMG Enterprises, Inc.
Part of this is because many of the growing regions were behind on rainfall in June and July, though as of last month, that is catching up. “Size is an important factor and has a significant impact on the overall volume of the crop,” says Ressler. “That’s what we’re watching right now. But we’re very encouraged with the internal quality which is the most important for the consumer.”
Melanie Sallin Ressler, co-CEO of IMG Enterprises, Inc.
Overall, time will tell how the Florida citrus industry’s crop this year compares to last year in volume. Last season’s crop was impacted by a number of weather events including a wind storm in the early part of the season that wasn’t a hurricane-force wind but was still strong enough to cause crop loss to some of the growing regions. “We also had a freeze in late January so we weren’t able to bring to market a percentage of our crop because of those events,” says Ressler. That said, IMG Enterprises itself will have more production this season following plantings made five to six years ago that are now coming to fruition.
October harvest
While some small volume will get picked at the start of next month, for the most part, harvest will begin October 15th. From there it continues on through to April.
This season IMG Enterprises will also continue to develop the market for white grapefruit. “It has traditionally been shipped to Japan and we see an opportunity to reintroduce this variety to the U.S. It is the best tasting grapefruit so if we can get the consumer to try it, they won’t be disappointed,” says Ressler.
Ressler believes domestic demand should be strong for Florida citrus.
As for demand, Ressler believes domestic demand should be strong for Florida citrus. “The Texas crop which experienced a freeze 1.5 years ago will still have some lingering effects,” she says. “They won’t be back 100 percent and that leaves a good market for Florida citrus.”
Issues with exports to Japan
Though in exports, shipments to Japan will continue to be challenged because of ocean line disruptions and not as many services heading straight to Japan from the East Coast.
Meanwhile in pricing, it’s likely to be increased this season. “Pricing is a challenge. We’ve felt a lot of inflation in our growing and distribution costs. To what extent can that be passed on to the consumer without seeing a change in consumption is being determined,” she says.
For more information:
Melanie Sallin Ressler
IMG Citrus
Tel: +1 (772) 778-6783
melanie.ressler@imgcitrus.com
www.imgcitrus.com