Seeking to fulfill needs for special packs, private labels and varietal demands, California grape shippers are harvesting closer to shipping dates than they did years ago, says John Pandol, director of special projects for Delano, Calif.-based Pandol Bros.
Pandol said the change in approach makes grape cold storage statistics less relevant than in the past.
This year, Pandol Bros. has seen brisk demand for California grapes, with overseas exports moving up and strong pull from North American customers. In mid-September, Pandol said California typically has shipped about 40% of the state’s crop, with 10% or a little more in storage, and has 50% in the field.
“Our approach is to reduce dwell time and get the consumer a fresher product,” he said.
Pandol said Peruvian grapes will begin arriving at the end of October or early November. The market is not necessarily demanding imported grapes at that time, but Pandol said Peru has limited storage capacity.
Pandol Bros.’ typical plan is to finish its California grape harvest by Thanksgiving and finish shipping by the first of the new year. In mid-September, Pandol Bros. and other grower-shippers were beginning to deploy plastic covers on their vineyards to protect late-harvested grapes from rain from mid-October to the end of November, Pandol said.
Changes in the grape industry have reflected increasing importance of premium varieties, compared with 20 years ago when growers all had the same varieties and competed on quality, availability and reliability, he said.
“Today, growers all have different varieties, and growers are trying to compete on variety, as if quality, availability and reliability were givens,” Pandol said. Even with the preference of some varieties by certain buyers, grower-shippers still must deliver quality, he added.
“When we all had the same varieties, some growers were better than others,” Pandol said. “Now that we all have different varieties, some growers are better than others.”
