The anticipated demand for imported apples looks to be less this year. "Except for Honeycrisp apples–Washington was short on Honeycrisp this year and we see movement on imports on that variety," says Tom Selfridge of Paramount Export Company. "Regular staple varieties such as Fuji and Gala, we're seeing very little demand for right now."
After all, Washington still has a large carryover of apple inventory from its 2024 crop. "The overall crop out of Washington is slightly down this year compared to last year. However what we see in terms of inventories, they are slightly above last year's right now," he says. That means there's still a lot of fruit to move that should keep supply going through summer.
July start?
Imported apples often start arriving in the U.S. in May and June from Chile and New Zealand, though that's dictated by what the supply looks like from Washington. "Unless something changes and Washington speeds up the movement, we may see some increased demand for July arrivals though that doesn't look to be right now," says Selfridge, adding that normally, the last arrivals of imported apples are targeted for early to mid-August which coincides when Washington starts with its fall apple crop.
On top of this lower demand, there's also uncertainty around tariffs being applied on product coming into the U.S. "We're seeing a lot of retailers be more cautious because they don't know what the final cost would be," says Selfridge.
As for pricing on imports, it is largely to be determined given the proposed tariffs are on pause at the moment. "The tariffs are the biggest wild card and then the movement of the Washington crop is determining what we'll see for imports this year," says Selfridge.
For more information:
Tom Selfridge
Paramount Export Co.
Tel: +1 (510) 839-0150
https://www.paramountexport.net/