Grape marketers look for strong finish
Though there are some uneven spots, suppliers say there will be plenty of promotion opportunities for California grapes into the fall and toward the end of the year.
The f.o.b. price for Kern District flame seedless ranged from $20.95-22.95 per carton for extra-large fruit, up from about $20.95 per carton a year ago.
At the end of June and into mid-July, the industry got off to a rapid start with flame seedless and sugraone and summer royals, said Dave Watson, senior vice president and general manager of Columbine Vineyards, Delano, Calif.
However, hot weather in late July caused harvest of green seedless grapes to accelerate but held back volume of red seedless, he said the first week of August.
“I would say, chapter one, everyone was off to a great start; chapter two, too many green grapes based on accelerated harvest, and not enough reds.”
Looking ahead, Watson said the red seedless varieties would get “up and going” in the next few weeks, and there will be retail promotion opportunities for both colors.
While the crop is abundant, Watson said the headwinds this year for growers include export logistics, materials cost, labor costs and water scarcity.
Exports may underperform this year because of troublesome logistics at ports.
About 30% of California grapes typically go to export markets, and strong demand for air and vessel capacity has made exports more difficult.
“I think there’s just a very, very heavy competition for any kind of freight space, in and out of the country.”
Another point of friction is higher transportation and input costs, Watson said, noting particularly high costs for pallets and corrugated cartons compared with a year ago.
Despite the variations in the harvest, John Pandol, director of special projects for Pandol Bros. Inc., Delano, Calif., said he doesn’t see any big gaps in supply for the rest of the California grape season.
However, he said labor shortages at both the grower and retail level could have some negative consequences on movement. At the farm level, farmers with too much of one variety maturing at the same time could be hard-pressed to pick the fruit in top condition if they don’t have sufficient labor.
From the demand side, Pandol said he has visited some retail stores that reflect a shortage of labor at the produce department level. If retailers don’t rotate grapes in the right way, then repeat purchases could suffer.
A retail clerk may stock the grape display in the morning, but if that display isn’t stocked again before the rush house, impulse purchases may be at risk, he said.
In general, though, Pandol said the outlook for California grape supply is strong with only slight variations from projected volume likely.
