Posts Tagged “cherry imports”
LOS ANGELES, CA – As the second largest cherry importer, Pacific Trellis Fruit is looking forward to the upcoming import Cherry season. Marcial Hernandez, Director of Imported Fruit elaborates on the upcoming season. “With increased volumes of cherries arriving in the US from Chile and Argentina, we are looking forward to increased opportunities to work with our customers in promoting cherries well into March. The first fruit to arrive via vessels should be available the third week of December, just in time for New Year’s ads”, said Hernandez.
Pacific Trellis Fruit is sourcing cherries from both Chile and Argentina, providing random weight bags and fixed weight 1lb or 2lb clamshells under the Dulcinea® brand. Fruit can be flown into Miami along with vessel arrivals at East and West Coast ports. Much of the fruit is brought to the US in bulk shipments of 5 Kilo boxes and repacked using a wet-line to provide additional quality control. Fully staffed QC teams manage both the inbound/outbound product from the shipping point to the customer. Dan Carapella, Jr, Director Special Projects, Senior Sales Executive and Category Manager for Cherries, is also working both the supply and retail side to promote the fruit. “Pacific Trellis Fruit is recommending ads to run weeks 2-8 to take full advantage of promotional supplies as well as promote late Argentine fruit. There will also be a small Rainier Cherry program with fruit arriving towards the end of December. We are seeing that many customers have already penciled in big ads in both mid-January as well as for Valentine’s Day in February,” added Carapella.
In addition to the Cherries, Imported Stone Fruit is also front and center for Pacific Trellis Fruit. Available are peaches, plums, and nectarines from Chile, along with a dynamic plum program from S. Africa. “ We have air shipments into Miami along with vessel arrivals to the East Coast, where our dedicated quality control team manages our extensive repack capabilities. Our operations team monitors all inbound/outbound shipments allowing Pacific Trellis Fruit the ability to manage supply and optimize quality”, said Tim Davis, Stone Fruit Category Manager. “We have a terrific program of yellow and white flesh nectarines, late season plum varieties including Applums, Lemon Plums and D’Agen Sugar Plums and availability of a number of high-flavor/high-brix plum varieties like Ruby Sun, Black Pearl, and Green Red (aka Flavor Gator) out of S. Africa which will arrive in mid-January and end in April”, added Davis.
About Pacific Trellis Fruit
Pacific Trellis Fruit® is one of North America’s top year-round importers, growers, and marketers of premium fresh fruit, including melons, grapes, stone fruit, cherries, and citrus. In 2014, Dulcinea® was acquired by Pacific Trellis Fruit and became their consumer-facing brand. Dulcinea is the pioneer of the PureHeart® personal seedless watermelon, the Tuscan-Style® cantaloupe and SunnyGold® yellow mini seedless watermelon. Pacific Trellis Fruit also features Kiss Melons, a line of high quality, great tasting melons. Pacific Trellis’ corporate headquarters is in Los Angeles, CA, with sales offices in Fresno, CA, Gloucester, NJ, and Tucson, AZ. For more information on Pacific Trellis Fruit and Dulcinea, visit https://www.pacifictrellisfruit.com/
Dutch company Rabobak reports U.S. 2022 cherry imports are set to reach the highest volume in more than a decade. With some of November and December still ahead, and expected increasing volumes from Chile, imports are likely to rise in the fourth quarter.
U.S. imports of fresh cherries increased 50% through August. On that note, imports from Chile “showed an uptick of 131% year-on-year, with record volumes in January and February 2022,” the report said.
On the other hand, cherry shipments from Canada increased by 8%, marking its highest volume since 2015.
The availability of fresh cherries in the U.S. has increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 3% over the past half decade to roughly 1.3 pounds per person per year (589 grams), as per USDA calculations.
According to USDA figures, about 36% of U.S. households have purchased cherries within the past twelve months. The likelihood of purchase increases as the primary household buyer is older and as a household’s annual income is higher.
For example, the estimated likelihood of purchase is 29% for households with an annual income between USD 25,000 and USD 50,000, while it is 43% for households with an annual income over USD 100,000.
In terms of ethnicity, the report stated that the likelihood of purchase is higher for Asian and Hispanic households, at 45% and 41%, respectively. The same source also reports that the probability of purchase tends to be higher in the western and northeastern U.S.
Lower U.S. production
Regarding domestic production, the report states that shipments of U.S. fresh cherries to the domestic market in 2022 were down 36% year-on-year. The primary reason for the decline in production was cold spring weather in the Pacific Northwest, according to the release.
This impacted pollination and the early stages of fruit development. As a result, the season started later than usual, which created a significant gap in U.S. grown cherries, particularly during weeks 22-26 of 2022.
In May, during the California season, exports were within the range of recent years, the report said. June and July, however, saw considerable declines. Thus, through August 2022, U.S. exports were down 45% year-on-year, with significant declines in all major destination markets.