“There are a lot of prunes available. There’s definitely no shortage of supply,” says Sekul Spaich of the California Packing Co. based in Olivehurst, Ca. “The sales are a little better than last year but there are still plenty of prunes out there.”
While harvest on California plums begins at the end of August, Spaich anticipates that California Packing will still have dried plums from the 2017 crop going into 2018.
Possibilities in Japan
That said, California has a reputation for quality pitted prunes and it’s the reputation that’s carried over into one Asian market: Japan. “In Chile, they sun dry their prunes but Japan doesn’t prefer that so we sell into Japan,” says Spaich. That said, we import a lot of Chilean prunes and put them out on the domestic market. We have to import from Chile and Argentina to compete domestically. The domestic buyers are moving more towards Chilean prunes and it’s almost become the norm.”
Looking ahead to the 2018 season, it’s a bit of a wait and see approach right now. “I talk with my growers and some of them say they have a really good crop and others say they’re wiped out so we’re not sure,” says Spaich.
For more information:
Sekul Spaich California Packing Co.
Tel: +1 (530) 740-1040
[email protected]
www.calprune.com
