While the seasons of some fruit varieties are winding down in California, others are still going or are about to start up. “We are getting ready for our citrus season,” says Krista Beckstead with Mountain View Fruit Sales. The company brings to market clementines, Page and Tango mandarins as well as Murcotts. Clementines will be the first variety to be harvested in November, which is about two weeks later than last year. “While the weather has been very good all summer, thrip damage was very bad this season,” Beckstead commented. The insects got into the flowers at bloom time and created scars on the tender developing fruit. “On a positive note, most of the thrip-damaged fruit dropped but the flipside is a crop that is down in volume about 20 percent overall.” Because production volume is lower, the fruit will be larger in size and Beckstead expects a better pack out.
Clementines are anticipated to be available between November and mid-January. They will be followed by Page mandarins from mid-December until February and Tango mandarins from late-January until April. The easy peeler season will close with Murcotts that are available between mid-March and May. “While we expect to start harvest two weeks later compared to last year, we also expect to finish around May 1, two weeks earlier than normal.”
Within the conventional mandarin category, Rascals are the company’s house brand. They come in different pack styles, including 15x2lb. bag master, 10x3lb. bag master, 6x5lb bag master, 4x5lb. bag master, 25lb. volume fill, and 30lb. volume fill. Rascals are available countrywide. In addition to easy peelers, Mountain View Fruit Sales also offers Meyer lemons, Lisbon lemons, Cara Cara oranges, and red grapefruit.
Table grapes down 35 percent
While the California citrus season starts early November, table grapes are expected to finish harvest around that time and should be available in stores until the middle or end of November. “It has been a difficult table grape season with the rain/humidity effects from Hurricane Hilary,” commented Beckstead. “Overall, industry volume is projected to be down at least 35 percent from last year’s 97.5 million box crop.” Although quality has been good, packing in the field is taking much longer than normal as damaged fruit needs to be identified and bunches have to be cleaned up. “It just takes more time to get a nice, finished product.”
Demand for table grapes has been good, both domestically and internationally. “Particularly on our green seedless variety Sweet Globe, we saw fantastic demand from all export markets," said Beckstead. The variety is packed under the “Estate Vineyards” label, an exclusive Mountain View premium table grape label. The variety made its way over to Mexico, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, and Singapore.
Global Produce & Floral Show
This week, Mountain View Fruit Sales will be exhibiting at IFPA’s Global Produce & Floral Show in Anaheim, California. For the company’s President Pat Steider it will be the 20th time attending the PMA/IFPA show with Mountain View Fruit Sales. Congrats on this anniversary! Visit the Mountain View team and learn about the company’s fruit offerings in booth #1897.
For more information:
Krista Beckstead
Mountain View Fruit Sales
Tel: (+1) 206-612-9247
kbeckstead@mvfruit.com
www.mvfruit.com