California grape shipments have been underway for about three weeks out of the desert area of the Coachella Valley, but that is minor compared to what lies ahead. As the desert volume winds down in early July, the Arvin district gets underway near Bakersfield, followed by the primary loadings in the central San Joaquin Valley.
The 2020 forecast is for 106.5 million boxes, which is up on 2019’s 104.8m boxes, but below the three-year average of 109.5 million boxes.
Availability from the main growing region in California, the Central Valley, will crank up in mid-July.
Meanwhile, the grape season in Mexico will soon be winding down, with overall shipments to be off about 20 percent from last year with estimates for 2020 at 19.7 million boxes.
There was an overlap of shipments from Mexico and the early district in Coachella.