The supply of lemons from California is strong right now with product coming from both District 1 and District 3. The state is where the majority of the fruit is coming from right now. "Chile has basically cleaned up and we're out of the import season. There is some Mexican fruit in a small way too," says Joshua Schwartz of Four Seasons Produce Inc.
This comes following numerous rains in California in recent weeks. "Typically with citrus, it's not a huge deal. It's going to size up the fruit in the long-term and in the short term, harvest crews are not able to get in and pick," says Schwartz, noting that with Thanksgiving ahead, growers were already picking ahead anyway. "Really it's just a short-term delay in harvest."
© Four Seasons Produce
Boosted sales
Demand for the citrus item is also strong, particularly going into Thanksgiving last week. "It could be due to the holiday but we're seeing an increase in sales across the board on lemons, conventional and organic," Schwartz says. While he expects demand to dip slightly this week as consumers get back into their regular routine and work on leftovers in their fridges, he says demand will strengthen again in December through to January.
This is all keeping pricing in line. "We were seeing some increased pricing while District 3 was just running. There were some quality issues coming out of California on some of the early crop," says Schwartz. "The market was pretty elevated, but as this supply strengthens from both districts, pricing will remain steady."
In fact, with small sizes peaking right now, following those rains, promotable volumes of large fruit are expected ahead.
For more information:
Joshua Schwartz
Four Seasons Produce
Tel: +1 (717) 721-2800
https://www.fsproduce.com/
