Good-quality spring table grapes now are arriving from Mexico’s Jalisco growing area, and U.S. grape shipments from California’s Coachella Valley should get started in May.
Last year, Mexican growers sent about 25 million 18-pound boxes of table grapes to the U.S., said John Pandol, director of special projects for Delano, Calif.-based Pandol Bros. Inc. and chairman of the grape division of the Nogales, Ariz.-based Fresh Produce Association of the Americas.
The official estimate for this year had not been released as of press time, but Pandol predicted that volume will be between 22 million and 24 million boxes.
Growers decided to launch an early grape deal in Jalisco about five years ago when they realized that producers in similar tropical climates — like Brazil, North Peru and India — were able to grow good-quality table grapes, Pandol said. This year, the program was underway by April 1.
The traditional Sonora crop out of Mexico should start by May 6.
Grapes from California ship from May to January and represent 99% of all commercially grown table grapes in the U.S., said Kathleen Nave, president of the Fresno-based California Table Grape Commission.
The California harvest begins in the Coachella Valley in late spring and moves north to the San Joaquin Valley by mid-July.
The state’s growers shipped 77 million 19-pound boxes last year, just over 2 million of which came from the Coachella Valley. That figure was up from about 1.9 million boxes the prior year.
In Mexico, the Jalisco region offers customers an opportunity for North American grapes to shine at a time when the Chilean season is beginning to finish up, said David Watson, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Rio Rico, Ariz.-based Fresh Farms.
Also, Jalisco can produce high-quality, preferred green grapes, Cotton Candy and red grapes that are fresh and essentially three to five days to the market, he said.
The Molina family, which owns Fresh Farms, has been growing grapes in Jalisco for several years.
“Every year it gets better and bigger,” Watson said. “It’s a window that will widen in the next few years.”
Fresh Farms started with the green Sweet Globe variety and some red Sweet Celebration grapes and Cotton Candy. Now the varieties are expanding, he said.
Nogales-based Divine Flavor also has a Jalisco program, which started around March 25 and will continue until the middle of May, said Michael DuPuis, quality assurance and public relations manager.
“In Jalisco, quality, Brix, sizing all look fantastic, and we are very happy with how the season has started so far,” he said. “Going into our sixth year, we are very confident that this will be our best commercial year yet.”
Next, the company will ship grapes from Guaymas in Sonora followed by La Costa and the Pesqueira areas. Then comes a later area slightly north of Pesqueira, followed by Caborca, which will start around the end of May and the beginning of June.
“Caborca is the last area of Sonora to harvest,” DuPuis said. “In fact, we have growing operations in a special part of Caborca that is literally the last crop to harvest out of Mexico, making Divine Flavor the last to send out grape shipments.
Divine Flavor has nearly doubled in scope and size in Jalisco, he said. Last year, the company packed about 1 million boxes of premium grape varieties, and this year the firm expects expect to pack approximately 1.8 million boxes.
“In Sonora, which is the typical table grape area, our company expects to be on par with our previous years of around 5 million to 6 million boxes of grapes, which is close to 20% to 25% of the total volume from Mexico,” DuPuis said.
Fresno, Calif.-based Bari Produce LLC will kick off its central California table grape program in mid-July, said Justin Bedwell, president.
That’s a bit earlier than usual because of some cold weather in late March and early April. The company will have a full line of red, green and black grapes from July until the end of November, he said.
Mexico also offers a good supply of organic table grapes.
“There’s more and more organic demand every year,” Watson said.
Fresh Farms offers organic versions of its Cotton Candy grapes as well as red, green and black varieties.
More than 80% of Divine Flavor’s grape production is organic, DuPuis said.
“We believe growing organic is a major contributor to producing the best tasting fruits and vegetables,” he said. “It enhances the health of the soils and plants, which in turn, helps produce healthier and higher-quality products.”
