California kiwifruit volume is expected to be down this fall compared to last year, but fruit size should be larger.
The persimmons crop should be lighter than last year’s as well.
Chris Tantau, operations manager for Exeter, Calif.-based Venida Packing Co., whose sales are handled by Fresno, Calif.-based Trinity Fruit Sales Co., said the 2020-21 California kiwifruit crop should be about 9 million tray pack equivalents compared to 10.5 million last year.
“Mother Nature probably left everybody less than a full crop this year,” he said. “That should keep the market very good this winter for the kiwifruit season.”
Quality should be excellent, he said, and fruit size should be above average.
Kiwifruit is a storage crop, like apples, he said.
Packing should be completed by the end of November, but shipments should continue until May out of storage.
Tantau said he has noticed greater movement toward packaging.
“There is heavier and heavier demand for bags and clamshells, especially with this COVID environment,” he said.
That was the case with stone fruit during the summer, and he said he expects the trend to continue with fall items.
As with other produce items during the pandemic, he said supermarket movement on kiwifruit has been up.
“We’re seeing a tremendous uptick in retail sales (while) foodservice is down,” he said.
“Everybody is at home,” he said.
That situation may continue into fall, with schools being closed, he said.
Foodservice business is coming back slowly, but there have been many restaurant closures and bankruptcies.
“(Foodservice business) may not return in the near future to its recent highs,” Tantau said.
Supplies of persimmons also may be lighter than normal for several reasons.
Persimmons are an alternate-bearing crop, he said, with a heavy-volume year usually followed by a lighter one.
Weather conditions during the growing period and warm weather during bloom also can affect fruit volume.
But Tantau was optimistic about the season.
“There should be great supplies for promotions,” he said.
There are two main kinds of California persimmons.
The fuyu variety is squattier, and it’s eaten when it’s hard, like an apple, he said.
The hachiya variety is more the traditional cooking variety, or it can be eaten fresh once it’s soft.
They’re available from all major retail chains and club stores from October until mid-December.
There is a strong demand for California persimmons, in part because there are not as many imports available as there are with most other commodities.
Venida Packing also ships plums — a traditional summer fruit that Tantau said has been stretching into the fall for the past couple of years.
“They used to be done in August,” he said. “Now we have a lot of varieties that are maturing all the way through September or early October.”
That has made some plums a fall item, he said.
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