Despite a freeze during bloom, Florida grapefruit has more sugar (brix) and volume should be good this season, according to Riverfront Packing Company of Vero Beach, FL.
Shipping has recently got underway and should continue into mid-March.
Last season Florida shipped 1.35 million standard 90-pound boxes of grapefruit, with a few loadings continuing into April.
While sizing is a bit smaller in general this season, the brix count is up by 10 percent.
Riverfront, which is a grower, shipper and packer, recalls last year’s slower fall start to the domestic citrus season. That was due to an influx of South African grapefruit from South African growers and shippers, who were concerned over a 50 percent tariff threat on imported fruit into the U.S.
This resulted in significant volumes of fruit were sent ahead of those tariffs being implemented, which left Florida growers and shippers not really seeing good loadings until late November/early December. Still, there is some South African fruit in the marketplace as late as January, but it is not nearly to the degree that it was a year ago.