Lemon supplies are still coming out of Mexico. “That’s where we’re pulling from. Mexico has gone a really long time this year--it’s longer than usual,” says Paul G. Gonzalez of River City Produce Inc., noting that the quality of lemons is also strong and the pricing is competitive. “They still have another two to four weeks to go and then they’ll finish up.”
At the same time, River City has also sourced some district one fruit out of California. “I am being told that district one has a lot of large fruit because they’ve put off harvesting so they are peaking on large fruit,” says Gonzalez. He notes it will transition to California fruit in about two to four weeks. “The California fruit we tried was good. However the advantage was buying out of Mexico because of the logistics and freight,” he says.
Pricing notes
He does note that generally, lemon pricing is lower than last year given the longer Mexican crop. “The freight for us was $1 as opposed to $6 out of the West.” Gonzalez does add that this week California pricing was $16 on choice fruit while Mexico was $15, also on choice.
As for lemon demand, it has been good. “Restaurants are busy here in South Texas and they’re making a rebound. Demand is getting to where it was before the pandemic,” he says. “Though while commerce is coming back, the cost of goods to do business is up--here for instance, lunch is now $15-$20 for example.”
For more information:
Paul G. Gonzalez
River City Produce Inc.
Tel: +1 (210) 271-0371
pgg@rivercityproduce.com
www.rivercityproduce.com