Supplies of apples out of Pennsylvania are good which is welcome news after seeing where last year’s crop was at this time.
Brenda Briggs of Rice Fruit Co.
“We have a really nice mix of variety. Just a little different from a year ago when we had a strong impact from weather on our crop,” says Brenda Briggs of Rice Fruit Co. in Gardners, PA. “This year our volumes are nice, the mix is good and the quality coming out of storage is great.”
Rice Fruit has a full line of core varieties, KIKU® apples and newer additions to its line up including Ambrosia, SnapDragon and EverCrisp.
Briggs says this year Rice Fruit's "volumes are nice, the mix is good and the quality coming out of storage is great."
Healthy start for 2022
At the same time, demand at the start of 2022 is proving strong. “It’s a combination of the time of year when everyone is past the holidays and the trend moves towards buying fresh fruit and vegetables,” says Briggs. “There were also a number of weather events last week so it’s backing up trucks and transportation. We’re getting a flurry of business and that’s keeping us extra busy.”
Briggs says looking ahead in the near future that apple movement will stay steady and even pick up in some different aspects. “I think there will be opportunities for some of the branded varieties--that tends to be a crowded market for apples,” she says. “And with the reduced crop across the country I think there may be some opportunities for a little more shelf space for those varieties.”
Rice Fruit's bagged KIKU, Ambrosia and EverCrisp apples.
And on pricing? “From our perspective, pricing is steady to strengthening,” says Briggs. “It depends on the variety and the pack but generally pricing is good and steady and getting stronger on certain items. That’s necessary because costs have been increasing.” Briggs also believes will move in response to supply availability and transportation.
For more information:
Brenda Briggs
Rice Fruit Co.
Tel : +1 (800) 627-3359
brenda.briggs@ricefruit.com
https://ricefruit.com/