The supply of grapes from California is steady right now. "Some of that heat we had a couple of weeks ago not only sped up some of the varietals, but it also caused a bit of damage," says Justin Bedwell of Bari Produce. "What's holding us back from increasing our supply is the additional time required for cleaning the bunches during harvest."
The main part of the California grape season saw an earlier start over last year's start date–however, last year was also a later start to the season. This year the season began around July 10.
Right now, Bari Produce is steadily shipping red, green, and black grapes. "We're moving out of our early season varieties and into more of our mid-season," says Bedwell. "So we're packing some Great Greens and on reds, we're packing Timcos, Krissys and we'll start some early Scarlet Royals probably next week, along with black grapes."
As for the size of the crop, last year the California grape industry saw a significant drop in supply after sizable rains at the beginning of the season. This year, the crop looks to be back at regular supply levels. "With some of the heat that we saw early on though, I don't think the industry will make its numbers necessarily. However there'll be plenty of grapes for everybody through November, assuming Mother Nature behaves," says Bedwell.
Demand to pick up in September
Meanwhile on demand, as it is with many commodities this month, it's steady but slower given consumers are still vacationing and not following their usual buying patterns. That said, July saw good demand and it's expected that demand will strengthen again next month when it could move into a demand-exceeding supply situation.
Of course, with the short supply last year which led to stronger pricing, pricing right now isn't as high as it was last year. Instead, it is on par or slightly higher than where the industry was two years ago. "That's good for growers who have all their higher input costs. Everything is just more expensive to put grapes into a bag," says Bedwell. "Though we're still keeping the price manageable for retailers so they can still attract customers. It's a balancing act of growers' needs and consumers' needs."
For more information:
Justin Bedwell
Bari Produce
Tel: +1 (559) 560-5600
[email protected]
www.bariproduce.com