The supply of lemons in the market right now is good and steady. "We're seeing a strong supply and high-quality fruit out of California's District 1 from all the shippers that we deal with throughout this time of year," says Joshua Schwartz of Four Seasons Produce Inc., adding that the supply is comparable in terms of grades and sizing to this time last year.
Four Seasons Produce has been sourcing lemons from District 1 particularly for almost six weeks now, though some shippers pull fruit from the region later than others. "We try and stay with California lemons year-round as long as we can until we start seeing quality issues. Then we'll dabble with fruit from Mexico and Argentina as well," Schwartz says.
On imports, Argentinian fruit will start to arrive in the U.S. by the end of May, as will Mexican fruit, and Chile will ship in the summer months. This year, Argentina is seeing some shifts in demand and shipping–the juice and oil prices are up per kilo this year so more of that Argentinian fruit will head towards that industry rather than the open market. "They will ship fewer lemons to the U.S. than they did previously but last year we were oversupplied with lemons from Argentina. So it could be a good thing and mean more clean fruit and less volume," Schwartz says. Europe is also expected to take more lemons this year from Argentina, whose season ends approximately mid-September.
Lemon demand picking up
On demand for lemons, it's strong and continues to strengthen as the weather heats up in the northeast. Like watermelons, the demand for lemons is stronger in the warmer months than in the colder ones.
Pricing is fairly promotable. Right now Choice-grade fruit is cheaper than Fancy-grade fruit. "That's usually the case but all sizes right now seem to be in good shape and peaking on supply leaving promotable markets overall," says Schwartz, adding that he expects it to stay that way, particularly once Argentinian and Mexican fruit also come into the marketplace.
For more information:
Joshua Schwartz
Four Seasons Produce
Tel: +1 (717) 721-2800
https://www.fsproduce.com/