California table grapes remaining to be shipped this season at the close of September were the highest in at least a decade.
Red seedless varieties account for most of the increase from last season. Origin Fruit Services South America compiled the report showing California table grapes remaining to be shipped as of September 30th were 12.9 million boxes – 19 percent above the 10.8 million boxes at the same time last year.
The report has recorded stocks, or remaining shipments, for the past 10 years. The second-highest level over this period was in 2008 when stocks of 11.2 million boxes were registered. Since 2009, stocks as of September 30th have ranged from 7.5 million boxes in 2012 to 11.1 million boxes in 2010.
Remaining shipments of red seedless grapes recently amounted to 7.4 million boxes – up 39 percent from a year ago. White seedless volumes are the same as last year at 4.5 million, while black seedless are up 16 percent at 656,000 boxes.
Red Globes, meanwhile, are down 25 percent from last year at 365,000 boxes.
San Joaquin Valley table grapes – grossing about $7500 to Miami.
Record shipping volume
The California table grape industry set a new five-week shipping record, moving over 23 million boxes into the worldwide marketplace September 8th through October 12th.
About 60 to 65 percent of California table grapes are normally shipped from September 1st through January.
L&M Pepper Shipments
L&M Farms of Raleigh, NC has expanded pepper field acreage this year with proprietary-seed colored bell peppers under the Simply Sun brand, which is now grown and shipped year-round. Loadings are now originating from Georgia and then will shift to Florida before returning back up north on the East Coast to North Carolina and then over to Michigan. The Simply Sun colored bells come in red and yellow now, with orange peppers coming into the program as well.
Strawberry Imports
Dave’s Specialty Imports, Miami, Fla., is importing a jumbo blueberry pack and has significantly expanded its imports of organic strawberries from Mexico.
Imported Mexican organic strawberries are crossing the border and will overlap slightly with the start of Florida strawberry shipments in January.