Harvest is underway for California's early stone fruit varieties. "The first large yellow peach variety started up two weeks ago," says Krista Beckstead with Mountain View Fruit Sales. The outlook for the season is favorable as yellow peaches are showing stronger volume than initially forecast, particularly from younger orchards. White peaches started with light volume and harvest ramped up last week. "These timelines reflect a normal start to the season," Beckstead shared.
Following yellow and white peaches are nectarines, apricots, and plums. For these stone fruit varieties, volume is building up. Yellow nectarines have ramped up and for Spring Pearl, the first variety of white nectarines, harvest started last week and signified the start of the white nectarine season. Apricot harvest started two weeks ago with the outlook for a very good crop and the first plum varieties will be picked in late May. Volume will build through May and June with steady production throughout the season.
© Mountain View Fruit Sales
High-quality crop
Production volume appears to be promising across all categories. Larger volumes are the result of favorable growing conditions. A stretch of warm and moderate temperatures has supported strong fruit development. While there was a brief cooldown and light rain about two weeks ago, temperatures rebounded into the 80s, creating ideal conditions for continued growth and ripening. In addition to significant volumes, early indicators are also pointing to a strong, healthy, and high-quality crop. "The good weather and better-than-expected production in some blocks suggest good fruit quality, particularly for early yellow peaches and apricots," mentioned Beckstead.
Good volume and high quality should position California stone fruit competitively for the summer. "In the past, we've typically seen strong early-season demand and we anticipate the same pattern this year. It's exciting as quality tends to progressively get better and better throughout the season."
© Mountain View Fruit SalesUpdated retail bins.
Organic program
While the large majority of Mountain View's stone fruit program is conventional, the company's organic program continues to steadily grow each year. "Although it still remains a small portion of our overall business, we aim to drive growth and recently rebranded our organic label to simply "Mountain View Organics" and are excited to showcase the updated logo and packaging this upcoming season."
In addition, Mountain View has recently updated their packaging and retail bins and refreshed their website. In celebration of summer, the "Summeripe Table Series" launched on social platforms, showcasing all things summertime and celebrating the consumption of stone fruit with family and friends.
© Mountain View Fruit SalesRecently updated packaging.
For more information:
Krista Beckstead
Mountain View Fruit Sales
Tel: (+1) 206-612-9247
[email protected]
www.mvfruit.com
