Harvest of the principal pomegranate variety Wonderful is scheduled to start next week. “The early varieties have moved smoothly into the market place this season,” says Tom Tjerandsen, Manager of the Pomegranate Council. This is partly due to high demand from abroad. “Buyers from around the world have been quite pleased with the deep color, high sugar levels and large size of this year’s early varieties. There are still promotable volumes available, so I expect a very smooth transition into the popular Wonderful variety that makes up 70 percent of the total harvest.”6.5 million boxes
Total production volume is expected to be similar to last season. Although acreage has decreased about 15 percent compared to last year, higher yield is expected to make up for most of it. This year, growers were able to apply adequate levels of water whereas last year a number of growers had no water allocation for pomegranates. Crop size is expected to be 6.5 million boxes.
Demand from overseas
Today, 40 percent of total fresh market production is exported. Korea, Canada, Taiwan, Japan and Brazil are the top 5 buyers of California pomegranates. “Last year, Brazil’s pomegranate imports increased 25 percent. Australia’s imports are also increasing rapidly,” added Tjerandsen. “Importers start to understand that there is no other pomegranate in the world that compares to the California variety in terms of size, color and sweetness.” As a result, demand from abroad continues to increase.
However, the industry has to continue to put effort in selling pomegranates overseas. “In the past, Russia used to buy 300,000 cartons per year and that dropped to zero,” said Tjerandsen. “Thankfully, the industry found new markets to absorb that lost volume.”
Tjerandsen also sees opportunities for growth in the domestic market. “A significant amount of the US population has never experienced a pomegranate,” he said. The Midwest in particular is a low-index area of the country. Both coasts are doing well when it comes to pomegranate consumption.
For more information:
Tom Tjerandsen
Manager
Pomegranate Council
1670 Ridge Road
Sonoma, CA 95476
Tel: (415) 999-6289