Later start seen for California grapes

Table grapes, like a lot of other California crops this season, will be off to a slightly later start than last year, but growers anticipate good quality due in part to ample rainfall during the winter and spring.

“The season is progressing nicely,” Pete Hronis, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Hronis Inc., Delano, Calif., said June 8.

“Everyone is saying that we’re late,” he said. “We’re late in comparison to the last few years, but we’re back to normal. During the drought, we were early.”

Hronis expects to kick off its season July 3 with flame seedless grapes, sugraones and the summer royal black variety.

The Fresno-based California Table Grape Commission’s initial estimate for this year’s crop was 112.1 million 19-pound box equivalents. Last year’s volume was 109 million boxes.

An official estimate is due in late July.

F.o.b. prices on 18-pound cartons of U.S. No. 1 Grade sugraone grapes were mostly $20.95 on June 8, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That was down from mostly $26.95 a year earlier.

Summer royals were down from a year ago, as well, also selling for mostly $20.95 compared to $24-26 at the same time in 2016.

Flame seedless were unchanged at $18.95.

This year’s growing weather was “fantastic,” said Keith Andrew, sales manager for Columbine Vineyards, Delano, Calif.

The company expected to start picking right after the Fourth of July.

“Right now, everything is looking outstanding,” he said in early June.

Fresno, Calif.-based Crown Jewels Marketing & Distribution LLC will start its grape deal with the flame seedless variety around the Fourth of July, said salesman Stephen Thomason.

“It’s been a good winter,” he said. “There hasn’t been excessive heat during the bloom time.”

He expected volume at Crown Jewels to be similar to last year.

At Pandol Brothers Inc. in Delano, John Pandol, special projects director, said the company’s start date over 35 years has ranged from June 20 to July 15 with July 3 the “average” kickoff date.

Pandol believes a late start may be good for the grapes.

“Things have longer to grow,” he said.

That may be good news for The Chuck Olsen Co., Visalia, Calif., which might not start its grape deal until July 15, said president Jeff Olsen.

The late start in the San Joaquin Valley also might be a good thing from a market perspective, said Nick Dulcich, owner and director of sales at Jakov P. Dulcich & Sons in Delano.

“It gives Mexico and Coachella time to get through their harvest,” he said.

In the Coachella Valley to the south, Mecca-based Richard Bagdasarian Inc. and some other growers still will be harvesting some varieties into July, while other companies will be finished for the season, said Nick Bozick, president.

It’s been a roller coaster season, with demand exceeding supply at times and supply exceeding demand at other times, he said.

Bozick said “there could be a small gap” between the end of the Coachella deal and the beginning of the San Joaquin Valley season.

Meanwhile, Mexico’s spring season was expected to finish by the end of June.

Volume out of the Coachella Valley was expected to be similar to last year, and quality midway through the season was “very good,” Bozick said.

Top Brass Marketing Inc. in Bakersfield in the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley expected to kick off its table grape season around June 26 with sugraones, followed by flame seedless on July 5, said president Brett Dixon.

That was about the same time as last year for sugraones and a bit later for the flames.

Some hail damage will result in lower yields on flames and sugraones for the early ranches, he said.

Volume should be up 10% to 15% at Visalia Produce Sales Inc., Kingsburg, said George Matoian, sales and marketing director.

The company will launch its season around July 8-10.

Growing conditions have been “excellent,” he said.