Fresh produce retail sales were up 22 percent for the week ending April 26, compared to the same time a year ago.
The market research company IRI reports demand for fresh produce is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. During the last week of April fresh vegetable sales were up 30.4 percent, while fresh fruit sales jumped 16.2 percent.
The numbers represent a substantial jump over the previous week, which was competing with the week of Easter in 2019. It also means the highest figures since the end of the demand peak in the middle of March.
A report by 210 Analytics, IRI and the Produce Marketing Association also points out sales of frozen and shelf-stable produce remain highly elevated, being up 57.6 percent and 46.3 percent respectively.
IRI reports the numbers very clearly show higher everyday demand is being driven by in-home consumption and it is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
As the market is adjusting to the new era of COVID-19, some lingering issues remain with the supply chain. Then there is the totally new shopping arena affecting everything from the demand for products to having to find new ways to drive impulse buying.
The top three growth items in the U.S. in terms of absolute dollar gains over the same week in 2019 were berries (+$35 million), lettuce (+$29 million) and potatoes, (+$24 million).
However, at the category level, significant differences continue existing between dollars and volume, driven by deflationary pressure. With fruit, there were big decreases in price per volume for items such as avocados (-16.1 percent), grapes (-12.5 percent) and tangelos (-9.9 percent) the week ending April 26.
Concerning vegetables, onions had a strong 37.3 percent increase in dollars. However volume sales were up 55.1 percent, with the retail price per volume down more than 11 percent.
Other produce items with large decreases in the price per volume were celery (-24.8 percent), peppers (-12.6 percent) and Brussels sprouts (-6.6 percent).
There was an opposite affect for other items, especially potatoes, with dollar sales still going strong, at +50.8 percent, and volume up 38.7 percent. Retail potato prices were 8.8 percent higher versus the same week a year ago.
As for fruit, the top 10 items in terms of dollar sales saw flat sales for two items (grapes and melons) but double-digit increases for seven.
Oranges continue a hot streak with another terrific 71 percent gain versus year ago. Highlighting nutritional benefits, particularly Vitamin C, in many other fruits and vegetables may benefit sales in weeks to come.
Chile is predicint an 8 percent increase in total citrus exports of 353,000 metric tons (MT) this season. Big increases in soft citrus volumes that more than offset expected declines in oranges is getting most of the credit for the overall rise.
The forecast calls for a 24 percent rise in mandarins, a 21 percent increase in clementines, flat lemons volumes, and a 13. percent decrease in orange exports.
The volume forecast for mandarins and clementines is 115,000MT and 61,000MT respectively. The year-on-year increase in volumes of both categories is due to new plantings made over the last 10 years.
An estimated 1463 acres have been planted annually and that the surface area is higher than 22,239 acres. Meanwhile, the decline in orange volumes to 87,000MT is due to a decline in surface area over recent years.
Many growers have been opting to either regraft or plant other crops. Lemon exports are expected to come in at 90,000MT.
A late winter freeze is being blamed for what is expected to be a double digit drop in Mexican grape shipments this season.
Total volume in 2020 likely will be down about 20 percent from a year earlier — 19.7 million cartons, compared to 23.7 million in 2019.
Just about all varieties will be down in 2020t. The forecast calls for 800,000 boxes of perlettes versus 1.7 million in 2019; 8.7 million red seedless in 2020 versus 10.8 million in 2019; mid-green, 4.2 million in 2020 versus 5.1 million in 2019; red globe, 300,000 in 2020 versus 307,000 in 2019; and black, 1.5 million in 2020 versus 1.9 million in 2019.
The exceptions, with larger volumes seen this year over last, were early primes, at 2.8 million boxes versus 2.6 million in 2019; and “others”, 1.5 million versus 1.2 million in 2019.
Pandol Bros. Inc. of Dinuba, CA reports a good winter and a freeze, which had an impact on total production.
The freeze was particularly hard on the early season perlettes.
Fresh Farms of Nogales, AZ reports the first grapes shipped out of Jalisco in early April, with Sonora grapes starting to ship in early May, which would be normal.
The Oppenheimer Group of Vancouver, British Columbia was planning an early May start, which would be earlier than a year ago,
The is expecting to have good volume this season despite the expected smaller crop.
Chilean table grape exports are wrapping up with 6 percent less volume from a year ago, although shipments still increased to some key markets. Meanwhile, Mexican grape loadings are getting underway.
The Chilean Fruit Exporters Association reports as of the week of April 20th, 551,459 metric tons (MT) of fruit had been shipped, compared to 618,590 MT last year. The U.S. and Canada account for 52 percent Chilean table grape exports, although shipments to those markets have fallen by 5 percent this season.
Exports to Asia fell by 15 percent, after the coronavirus outbreak severely affected market conditions over recent months. Asia remains the number-two market.
Europe and Russia were the only two markets to which Chile managed to ship more grapes, both increasing by more 10 percent, with Europe receiving 74,990MT and Russia 9,792MT.
Exports to other Latin American countries fell by 17 percent to 29,476 MT, and to the Middle East fell by 3 percent to 8,625 MT. Fruit quality has been generally good in general. The decline in exports is in line with industry expectations at the beginning of the season.
The Peruvian avocado ramped up volumes in mid-April.
Following a year-on-year drop in export volumes last season of 17 percent, Peru is forecasting a 5 percent increase over 2018, when 336,000MT were exported. But unlike 2018, when the volumes were greatly concentrated in a few weeks, supplies are more consistent and spread out throughout the season. The peak volume is expected to be from May through July.
The Peruvian Hass Avocado Growers’ Association (ProHass) reports there had been a slight slowdown in exports, but it was believed this was more related to companies learning about how to implement the new measures under the covid-19 pandemic and also due to market uncertainty over recent weeks.
There have so far been few problems in terms of logistics in Peru, with enough truck drivers available and accommodating to the new schedules. The flow of containers from the ports to the packing houses and vice versa has also not been much of an issue, but the response times and efficiency of these operations have slowed. The first exports of the Peruvian avocado season have been focused on the European market.
Peruvian exports to the U.S. has been increasing in recent years. Peruvian avocado supplies are viewed as a good complement to the domestic and Mexican supplies. Exports from Mexico are at the lowest point in the Northern Hemisphere summer months.
While avocados from Peru arrive mainly at East Coast ports in the U.S. they as shipped nationwide.
Europe is still Peru’s primary market, and it is now shipping there, as well as China and Japan.
During the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, the food supply chain has been called upon to create stability for the country. As the largest agricultural employer in the country, California strawberry farms were among the first to implement CDC guidance. Strawberry farms are committed to protecting farm worker health, maintaining farm jobs and harvesting every box for American consumers.
For consumers, strawberries have a special role, as one of the top two fruits designated as high in vitamin C. During the spring (April 15-June 1) strawberries are the second most consumed, high in vitamin C, fresh fruit, after oranges.
Now, strawberry supplies are threatened by the COVID-19 peak in April and downward trend into May – which has already brought food service to a standstill and stores to regulate consumer access.
Perishable items will be most affected by the COVID-19 peak, especially crops such as berries that will be in full production during the same period of April through May. Blueberry farms in Florida, Georgia, and California, as well as California strawberry farms project more than 30% of the crop will be disrupted – threatening the loss of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars. For comparison, fresh strawberry retail sales were over $953 million during the 13 weeks ending June 16, 2019.
Our options are few: leave the crop to rot in the field or pick every box and have faith in our supply chain partners to get this important source of vitamins and nutrients into the hands of consumers, through supermarkets, food banks, online, and every other channel available.
Our choice is clear – harvest every box. We have asked the US Department of Agriculture for assistance and call upon every link in the supply chain to restock shelves and help us preserve over 70,000 jobs related to delivering healthy, nutritious strawberries to consumers, and for all to stay safe.
Sincerely,
Hector Gutierrez, Farmer & Chairman Rick Tomlinson, President
California avocado shipments are far outpacing last season, primarily because of heavy demand from retailers in early and mid-March amid the coronavirus pandemic.
However, the California Avocado Commission reports loadings have now slowed down in line with retail demand.
Despite retail orders being offset somewhat by the huge drop in foodservice demand, California avocado growers harvested nearly 46.7 million pounds this season through March 22.
This compares to only 5.1 million pounds for the same time last year. Some of this increase is due to a larger crop in 2020, but much is due to strong early-season demand. There has been a lot consumers stocking up and panic-buying, especially with the start of the pandemic, but there have been some expectations of softer retail traffic going into April. This has resulted in many growers to temporarily slow down on harvesting.
Unlike some produce items, mature avocados can remain safely on their trees, providing some harvesting flexibility.
WENATCHEE, WA:
Furthering its dedication to being a leading fruit grower, packer and
shipper in Washington State, CMI Orchards, LLC, is pleased to announce a new
strategic partnership with Yakima Fruit and Cold Storage Co.
This partnership will significantly expand CMI Orchards’
manifest by adding over 3 million boxes of exceptional quality apples to CMI’s
diverse sales portfolio. CMI President Bob Mast shared, “With this partnership
comes tremendous opportunity to increase our daily shipping capacity with the
expansion of packing facilities and high-density acreage. This added volume
will enable significant growth for both companies and provides a robust
portfolio to carry CMI and Yakima Fruit into the future.”
“This is all a part of a long-range plan for strategic growth
to better serve our growers as well as our expanding customer base,” said Mast.
“The design began to unfold back in 2018 when CMI Orchards added Pine Canyon
Growers as a grower, packer and shipper. Pine Canyon Growers has been a
fantastic addition to our manifest and now our progress has enabled us to team
up with another great partner in Yakima Fruit.”
“Yakima Fruit has a highly desirable manifest that we are
excited to add to our offerings, including exceptional early Honeycrisp among
other key varieties,” said Mast. According to Mast, the partnership was
executed on March 20, 2020, and has immediately added additional core varieties
to CMI’s selling power. Varieties include Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Cosmic
Crisp®, Red Delicious, Pink Lady®, Gala, Fuji and Golden Delicious apples.
Mike Wilcox, President of Yakima Fruit, is excited that
the partnership has been completed and said his company had considered many
sales and marketing teams to team up with. “At the end of the day, there was no
better choice than CMI,” Wilcox said. “CMI has proven time and time again they
are innovation leaders, paving the way with many of the top-selling branded
apple varieties in the U.S.A.” Wilcox added that he has always had tremendous
respect for the CMI group, and the points of difference that CMI brings to the
table to help retailers drive sales. “Having a strong core manifest is equally
important, which is the value that Yakima Fruit adds to this partnership, as
you have to be able to take care of customers’ everyday needs as well as bring
something new and exciting to the table to keep apples exciting,” he said.
Mast reports that in addition to high production
orchards, the Yakima Fruit partnership brings an opportunity to strategize on
future plantings with available unplanted acreage to best meet the needs of
CMI’s retailer and consumer preferences for both apples and cherries. “CMI is
thrilled with the opportunity this blank slate provides and is eager to look
into early cherry varieties, licensed branded apples and cherries, as well as
high flavor, high quality core apple varietals.”
“This partnership will greatly increase CMI’s ability to
service our customer base with fruit on a year- round basis. We are excited to have
additional premium fruit to offer our customers and to continue to supply the
highest quality fruit that we can, serving the needs of the market,” said Mast.
“CMI is already known within the industry as being an innovator and leader for
new branded items and organics, and this partnership will enable us to continue
to pioneer advancements in these areas while expanding our fruit supply,
meeting the needs of all of our customers. “We are very proud to welcome the
Yakima Fruit team to the CMI Orchards Family and look forward to a long-lasting
partnership,” Mast said.
CMI Orchards, founded in 1989, is the sales and marketing
arm of McDougall and Sons, Columbia Fruit Packers, Double Diamond Fruit Company,
Highland Fruit Company and Pine Canyon Growers. With 9 warehouses locations throughout
the State of Washington, this new partnership will add one additional packing
shed, greatly increasing CMI’s production capacity and efficiencies.
Yakima
Fruit was incorporated in 1949 by the Cohodas Brothers Company of
Michigan, a wholesale produce distribution company with branches throughout
Michigan and Wisconsin. Following World War II service with the US Army Corps
of Engineers, Herbert L. Frank relocated to Yakima, Washington to assume
management of the recently acquired packing and storage facility. Subsequently,
Yakima Fruit was managed by Lawrence C. Frank and then Michael C. Wilcox, a
third-generation grower with sales and marketing experience. In April 2018, a
majority interest in Yakima Fruit was acquired by Pioneer Partners LLP, an
investment subsidiary of the Hancock Natural Resources Group.
Georgia Vidalia onion shipments are underway and loadings should be similar to a year ago.
There are 9,373 acres on onions in the ground, which is similar to 2019 crop acreage, which was about 2,000 acres down from 2018.
The Vidalia Onion Committee reports more onions are being grown on less acreage. There are about 80,000 to 110,000 onion plants per acre being cultivated by hand to produce the 5 million to 7 million 40-pound equivalents shipped every year.
In 2019, the Vidalia onion industry produced 5.3 million 40-pound equivalents. There is a six to eight-week harvest period for fresh onions, and then about half the crop, or 3 million to 3.5 million bushels, is shipped from cold storage or controlled atmosphere storage through summer.
Last year was one of the best shipping season in Vidalia onion history and the industry has hopes for the same results this go around.
Every year the Georgia Department of Agriculture sets an official start date for the season after hearing from a 13-member advisory panel of the Vidalia Onion Committee of growers. This year’s start date was April 16.
California strawberry shipments could exceed last year’s volume thanks to increased plantings and higher yielding varieties.
Strawberry growers planted nearly 27,000 acres of strawberries for winter, spring and summer production this year, about 1,000 acres more than 2019.
The California Strawberry Commission of Watsonville, CA. reports the combination of increased acreage and the introduction of high-yielding varieties offers growers the potential of producing more than last year’s 202 million plus trays.
Ventura County accounts for 19 percent of the state’s acreage, Santa Maria has 35 percent and Watsonville has 45 percent.
As of March 9, the state had shipped nearly 8.5 million trays of strawberries compared to 4.3 million trays at the same time last year.
Well-Pict Inc. of Watsonville, CA was picking in Oxnard the second week of March and the area hit a peak at the end of March.
Santa Maria began loadings in late March, but the crop was slowed due to earlier weather issues. The areais now entering peak shipments.
Meanwhile, Watsonville shipments are ahead of schedule this year.
Red Blossom Sales Inc., Salinas, CA started shipment from Santa Maria the second week of March 9 but was planningt to start picking in Watsonville around April 30, as usual.
Bobalu Berries of Oxnard started its strawberry season in Ventura County and will be shipping from Watsonville in May.
Truck rates from Ventura County have plunged in recent days from 15 to 30 percent, depending on the market. Oxnard rates have dropped over 20 percent – strawberries and vegetables to New York City – about $6200; down 30 percent to Atlanta – now about $3900.
