Big Opportunities for Hauling Washington Fresh Apples

Apples remaining to be shipped as of December 1st were 120.3 million (42-pound) boxes, 13 percent above from a year ago and 12 percent higher than the five-year average of 107.5 million boxes.  Total fresh crop shipments for Washington state are now expected to hit 137.88 million boxes.  That is  nearly 500,000 boxes above the November estimate.

The U.S. Apple Association storage report shows total Washington fresh holdings on December 1st at about 104 million boxes, or about 86 percent of total apples remaining to be shipped in the U.S..

U.S. fresh red delicious supplies on hand were 35.4 million boxes, up 26 percent from a year ago.  Gala inventories in the U.S. were 22.9 million boxes, up 28 percent from a year ago. Honeycrisp holdings in the U.S. were 5.58 million boxes, up 29 percent from last year.

Among varieties with reduced volume on hand, U.S. granny smiths at 12.1 million boxes, off 15 percent from a year ago.  U.S. golden delicious inventories of 7.2 million boxes were down nine percent compared with a year ago.

The 2016 Washington crop is well short of the record 140 million-carton crop of 2014.  However, Washington fresh apple shipments are likely eclipse the 2014 record crop in the next few years.  In fact, 140-million-box crops are expected to become normal, with the big crop years hitting the 150 million to 160 million box range.

Looking ahead to future shipping season said some observers believe with rising volume of new proprietary or club apple varieties, it may start to put pressure on gala apples, in addition to hurting retail shelf space for jonagold, braeburn and cameo varieties.

There seems to be a growing belief among many observers that as the apple industry moves into these new premium varieties, gala will be the next one to be hit.