California grape shipments should continue through December, but your chances of claims or rejected loads may be increasing as late season quality problems are reported.
Confidence in the product is declining as complaints from retailers ranging from poor color on red grapes to decay and condition issues on all varieties are rising. As a result wholesalers are managing increased volumes of fruit that fail to make a satisfactory arrival to retailers. It is recommended drivers check grape quality at shipping point and make sure your receivers know what is being delivered. Meanwhile, meaningful arrivals of imported Chilean grapes won’t occur until January.
San Joaquin Valley grapes, carrots and kiwi – grossing about $3800 to Chicago.
Northwest Pear Shipments
The preseason estimate of 20 million boxes for Northwest pear shipments — 2 percent less than in 2014-15 — already has fallen to about 19 million boxes and could drop even more. In late November some shippers were transitioning into red anjous, and volumes were picking up significantly after Thanksgiving.
There are also some volumes of boscs now being shipped. Bartlett pear shipments should wrap up in February, while Boscs should ship into April and anjous into July.
Yakima Valley, WA apples and pears – grossing about $5000 to Houston
California Avocado Shipments
California Avocado shipments remain significantly higher than last year, but volume fell off sharply in late November.
About 27.9 million pounds of avocados were shipped in the U.S. the week ending November 28th, down from 48.3 million pounds the week before and from 35.3 million pounds in the same week in 2014, according to the USDA.
For the year, 781 million pounds had shipped through Nov. 28, up from 660 million pounds at that time last year.
Southern California avocados, citrus, peppers and tomatoes – grossing about $5900 to New York City.