Here is a trifecta of produce loading opportunities. Granted two of the three will be limited volume (mandarins and broccoli), but Idaho potatoes always have big time shipments.
In another week or so Kishu mandarin loadings will get underway from California’s Orange Cove growing region.
The delicate, hand-picked item has relatively overall light volume and provides partial loads at best.
Kishu mandarins are a golf ball-sized mandarin that are sweet and easy to peel and sold for Ripe to You under the Lil’ Ninja Mandarins label. Harvest begins in mid-November.
“We’re still competing with our retail partner’s inventory of citrus from the Southern Hemisphere,” says Madalyn McCracken of Ripe to You, based in Reedley, CAs.
That said, she adds that the Kishus are a variety sought after by higher-end grocery stores. “We’ve had great feedback on our 1 lb. bag with a new Giro design and we look forward to the consumer’s reaction to it,” she says.
Idaho Potato Shipments
Shipments of Idaho potatoes through early October have been running ahead of a year ago, according to USDA statistics. As of October 6th, truck shipments of Idaho potatoes were 61.9 million pounds, up 9 percent from the same week a year ago.
Season-to-date truck shipments of Idaho potatoes through October 6th totaled 458.7 million pounds, up 14 percent compared with the season.
Rail shipments were also up, with season-to-date movement of 28.5 million pounds, up 6 percent compared with year-ago levels.
Fresh potato loadings are expected to ramp up as the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays approach.
Idaho potatoes – grossing about $4700 to Atlanta.
Georgia Broccoli Shipments
While Maine broccoli shipments are finishing, shipper Fresh from the Start is launching its second season in Georgia with broccoli shipments starting in mid-November.
The company dodged the bullet with Hurricane Michael and is expecting good volume this season. Once its Georgia season is finished it will begin shipping out of Florida in January.