This week, supplies of imported raspberries are likely to get a boost.
“Right now, supplies of raspberries look good. We’re in a bit of 2-3 week gap supply between our winter crop and our spring crop,” says Walter Yager of Miami, Fl.-based Alpine Fresh, Inc. “But we’re expecting that within the week, things will ramp up and there’ll be plenty of supplies.”
Supplies of the popular berry are coming from Mexico, largely within a 100-mile radius of Guadalajara. But the rainy weather in Mexico has been a challenge.
“It was a very wet fall that affected not only the crop but also our ability to plant the new crops. Normally we finish planting in July but this year we planted all the way into September,” says Yager. “So the timing of the new crops was thrown off and that’s why we’re having a bit of a gap right now.”
Acreage on the rise
That said, this year volumes did increase on imported berries. “This was because of the amount of acreage going into the ground,” says Yager. He adds though that the yields are also off slightly this year because of the rain.
Meanwhile, demand on raspberries continues to grow. “We see tremendous growth potential in raspberries. We’re doubling our acreage in the next two years,” says Yager. “Raspberries have traditionally been difficult to promote and now that we’re able to reliably bring a good quality product, the retailers are more and more inclined to promote.”
In fact, Alpine Fresh is looking to introduce new varieties of raspberries possibly as early as next year as it considers breeding programs in both Spain and the Netherlands to bring back to grow in Mexico.
Pricing down slightly
For now though, given the challenges the rain has posed on production, pricing has been steady but lower than where it traditionally is. “But again, you’ve got more acreage going into the ground and there’s more production so we expect there to continue to be some price erosion,” says Yager. “But the erosion won’t be as much as the overall volume increase. We’re going to double the acreage but I see pricing being off by maybe 10 percent.”
And looking at the next crop from Mexico, Yager anticipates that they’ll stay in production until July at least. “It depends on the weather,” he says. “Summer is the rainy season down there so if we get a lot of rain, we’ll cut it short. If it’s a dry summer, then we can continue to go.”
For more information:
Walter Yager
Alpine Fresh, Inc.
Tel: +1-305-594-9117
wyager@alpinefresh.com
www.alpinefresh.com