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Imported stone fruit could meet solid Canadian demand

Supplies of Chilean stone fruit have begun arriving in Canada.

“Our first stone fruit came yesterday. This is the start for us but it’s ahead of the rest of the market,” says Larry Davidson of North American Produce Buyers based in Toronto, Canada. Unlike last year, Chile has had plenty of rains this year and good weather which is making for a full and normal crop of peaches, nectarines and plums. “Other than a bit of cool weather which is probably delaying things a week from where they thought it might have been, it’s still historically earlier than normal,” says Davidson.

While the crop is good, there are still some logistic challenges. “The vessel side of things are fine but air is challenging because there aren’t anywhere near the number of flights leaving Chile for North America,” says Davidson. “Flights directly into Canada are non-existent so we have to manage alternate destinations and stops. The cost of air freight specifically is also more money.”

Boost in business
Meanwhile demand looks to be strong. “Since the pandemic started—and except for when regions such as Toronto went into a full lockdown—business has been 15-20 percent higher than a normal year,” says Davidson. He notes though that some of that is regular business growth but also can be linked to the pandemic. “As long as things stay in the circumstances they’re in, which is likely for this import season, I expect business to be pretty stable. Retail demand remains strong across most commodity groups. I’d imagine that the business should be up 10 percent to a normal year,” he says.

What is more limiting though could be alternate selling options. “There are some significant lockdowns in most of the Canadian provinces, especially the bigger cities and that that will have an impact,” he says. “If product arrives with any condition issues, we don’t have access to some of the places we’d distribute that product. We ran into that situation in the spring when lockdowns first happened so growers need to be cognisant of sending good product.”

Meanwhile pricing is historically similar to last year and Davidson anticipates pricing to stay steady.

For more information:
Larry Davidson
North American Produce Buyers
Ph: +1 (416) 255-5544
[email protected] 
www.naproduce.com