Demand looks to be strong on California citrus as the holidays get closer. “There has been great holiday demand and we expect that to continue into the New Year leading up to Lunar New Year in late January. Also right now, there is excellent demand for holiday promotions and demand has been great on all varieties this season,” says Derek Vaughn of Johnston Farms. “I expect consumption to increase through the holiday season.”
Currently, Johnston Farms is in production with Navel oranges along with red grapefruit and Satsuma mandarins. It is also getting ready to start its Murcott citrus crop in mid-January. To keep its citrus moving, the grower-shipper has also added a new 3# pouch bag for all of its mandarin varieties.
Good growing conditions
Meanwhile, supplies of California citrus are good. “We have had exceptional weather and just enough rain to help increase the size of the fruit with little to no wind,” says Vaughn. He does add though that there is more small fruit than the grower-shipper would like to see right now.
As for the timing of the season, all seems to be consistent with last year’s timing. “We expect mandarins to end in early March and Navels should end in early April,” says Vaughn. All of Johnston Farms’ citrus is grown in California’s Kern and Tulare counties.
On pricing, prices seem to have stabilized, though Vaughn says the small fruit pricing has seemed to bottom out with such a large supply of 138s.
For more information:
Derek Vaughn
Johnston Farms
Tel: +1 (661) 366-3201
dvaughn@johnstonfarms.com
www.johnstonfarms.com