Like many produce companies, Rice Fruit’s staff felt the unprecedented challenge and stress to daily life that came with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Implemented in 2020, safety measures for the Rice crew are still in effect eight months into 2021. Those measures include additional sanitizing stations, social-distancing protocol and staggered schedules so that there are fewer people on the floor at any one time.
“We are proud of how we have adapted and have been able to continue providing food to our consumers during this time,” said Valerie Ramsburg, who works in marketing and sales at Rice.
But then new challenges emerged as the pandemic waned for months and gatherings reconvened, and public life returned (before this third wave with the delta variant).
Read related: U.S. apple exports slip slightly in 2020-21
The “extremely competitive” trucking market is one of the bigger concerns going into this season, Ramsburg said.
“On any given day, both the availability of trucks and the extreme fluctuation in rates is both unpredictable and challenging,” she said.
In addition to freight and labor, supply chain costs are generally higher across the board — from pallets to corrugated boxes to machinery components.
Field labor is also almost always a concern, but this time, it’s not as high on the list for Rice’s growers, who have been satisfied by the help they get from the H-2A program.
To combat the challenges faced by almost all companies in 2021, New York Apple Association’s trade advertisements are focusing on the state’s growers and apple shippers, lower freight rates, state-of-the art packing facilities and high-quality fruit, association president and CEO Cynthia Haskins said.
Read related: Despite heat, Washington crop expected similar to last year
Yes! Apples focuses more on retail sales than foodservice sales, so 2020 and 2021 so far have been good, business-wise, as consumers seek healthy, convenient, outdoor-friendly foods such as apples, CEO and president Kaari Stannard said.
But the company isn’t immune to the labor shortages in its packinghouses or the skyrocketing freight costs.
“We experience high competition coupled with a dwindling population of workers,” Stannard said. Also, “freight is a concern for us, as we have seen massive inflation in our shipping lanes.”
Crunch Time also experienced strong demand during the COVID-19 surge of 2020, particularly for bagged fruit, executive director Jessica Wells said.
“However, prices weren’t as strong as we would have liked, which directly impacted our growers,” she said. “We focused some of our marketing efforts on digital channels, trying to reach consumers via the tools they were using to shop.”
The cost of doing business has gone up dramatically in the past 18 months in post-harvest activities, including labor, freight and packaging.
Also: “Our growers are also seeing increased costs associated with labor, fuel and crop inputs,” Wells said. “It’s important that apple pricing across the board helps our growers absorb these costs.
Read related: Cosmic Crisp a rising star for Washington growers
At least apple companies are fortunate that business didn’t slow, and that the apple category is so popular at retail, said Chris Sandwick, director of marketing at Hess Bros. Fruit Co., Lancaster, Pa.
And while companies have spending less on travel the past 18 months, the faster — if less personal — rhythm of communicating with customers by phone, e-mail and video calls has set in.
“We wonder if the in-person interaction will come back in a meaningful way. I think it will, but will it be in a season or four seasons?”
Sandwick said. “When will we be on the road as much as before? It was a way to establish new relationships and strengthen existing ones.”
Read related: Eastern apple crop is snapping to it in 2021
