California table grapes are in full swing for 2020 with fruit shipping a little faster than previous seasons and following slightly lower volumes in the Coachella Valley.
Grape shippers are looking at what it considers a new normal volume for 2020. The two major grape-producing regions of the state, the Coachella and San Joaquin Valleys ship 99 percent of the nation’s commercially grown table grapes.
The transition between the Coachella and San Joaquin Valleys was smooth with the demand likely a reflection of shorter volumes from the Coachella Valley and Mexico and excellent San Joaquin Valley fruit quality.
The California Table Grape Commission estimates 104.9 million 19-pound boxes will be shipped this year. This means the 2020 estimate is the same volume as was harvested in 2019.
This season there will be a few new table grape varieties, even if their availability doesn’t impact volume all that much over all. The top 15 varieties harvested in 2019 represented 75 percent of the shipments.
Grapes and stone fruit – grossing about $5400 to Chicago.