The supply of Italian kiwis is tightening up on North America’s east coast. “The Italian kiwi will still be readily available here through to the second or third week of April,” says Chris Kragie of Madera, Ca.-based Western Fresh Marketing. And as the Italian season starts to die down, the Chilean import season begins. “The first Chilean kiwi is leaving Chile next week and they should have fruit available by the third or fourth week of March. It’ll trickle in for the first week or two but March 5-12, those shipments from Chile should start to increase,” adds Kragie.On the West Coast however, Italian shipments are already dwindling. “West Coast kiwi right now there are still decent volumes in California and minimal shipments coming to the west coast,” says Kragie. “In the next few weeks the amount of Italian fruit on the West Coast will be minimal.”
Unanticipated demand drop
Meanwhile, demand is starting to pick back up after a slow start to 2017. “It’s been surprisingly slower than what would be normal,” says Kragie. Part of the problem he notes is that some chain stores have picked up a new big-box supplier. “Italian shippers had a hard time adjusting to that because it happened pretty much without notice to most of the Italian exporters,” says Kragie. “There’s a big shipper on the West Coast who’s now doing those big-box supplies to good-sized chain stores and cleaned up a lot of that customer base.”
However, shippers have now adjusted what they’re shipping and it’s a trend that Kragie sees only increasing. “That shipper is going to continue to grow and some marketers and importers will lose customers,” he says. “We haven’t felt that pinch because we’re pretty well-diversified within our customer base so we’re in a good spot.”
For more information:
Chris Kragie
Western Fresh Marketing
Tel: +1 559-662-0301
[email protected]
http://www.westernfreshmarketing.com/
