While Chilean nectarines and peach imports are pretty much finished, there are still some Chilean plums arriving at USA ports – and here is a word of caution.
Late season varieties have been having some quality issues, so you need to use extra care before loading any Chilean stone fruit.
Some bad arrivals at ports have been reported with the fruit having mold, plus being hard with a “blackish” color. When the product was picked too green, or held too long in storage is up to speculation.
Chilean nectarine and peach volumes are about 10 percent below last season, with plum arrivals up plum volumes were up 10 percent. This may have compounded the problem because a lot of fruit was being delayed being placed on boats until other fruit arrived to help fill out the ship.
Some Chilean plums will continue to arrive at USA ports through April. Just be on the lookout for maturay and decay issues with the fruit.
Grapes
Some laste season Chilean grapes also are showing quality problems.
Grapes arriving after the deadline set by a USDA’s marketing order must be U.S. grade No. 1, before the product can be sold and transported and sold to the consumers.
After the April 10th marketing order date, the grapes will have to be inspected for U.S. 1. Since only a very small sampling of grapes are inspected, there is plenty of room for error.
A dock workers strike in Chilean isn’t helping matters eithers and may be contributing to some shipping delays.