Reports in California indicate that grapefruit supply will be down from last year in the range of possibly 10-20 percent, though it's still early. "We go through these fluctuations and while it used to feel like it was an "every other year" deal, the last few weather seasons have felt off. Conditions are just different," said Casey Creamer, CEO of California Citrus Mutual.
He does note that the heavy rainfalls seen over the last few years could be impacting the crops. "Last year we had unprecedented rain come through and even this year we got a significant amount of rain," he says. This includes Southern California where the majority of the state's grapefruit is grown. (Approximately 4,500 acres of the state's 8,000 grapefruit acres are in this district.)
Smaller crops
After all, changes are being seen in other California citrus crops. This year's navel crop was down versus what was projected (though the crop caught up somewhat) as were lemons and mandarins.
As for timing, production is expected to finish at the end of August and into early September. "We'll have fruit available throughout the year but the peak times are outside the Texas and Florida peak seasons," says Creamer.
Meanwhile sizing of the fruit looks to be larger than average with smaller sizes at a premium, due to the ample water supply. "So we're seeing a lot of early season size picking and we're trying to manage the crop so we can continue to deliver consumer demand preferences," says Creamer. "After years of drought, we had smaller sizes and the larger sizes were a premium but now we're seeing the inverse of that."
For more information:
Abby Peltzer
California Citrus Mutual
Tel: +1 (559) 592.3790
[email protected]
https://www.cacitrusmutual.com/