Kiwis are seeing good supplies and stronger pricing this season.
John Fagundes of Cal Harvest Marketing Inc. in Hanford, CA notes that California has good supplies of large fruit. “California overall had a slightly smaller crop but a nice crop of large fruit so there’s plentiful supplies of those,” he says. He notes that as of January 1st, there was still 63 percent of the state’s fruit left which is right on track. “Typically, things run about 20 percent per month, so November-December used up about 40 percent of the fruit,” he says, noting that some shippers do go until May-June, after which Southern Hemisphere fruit begins to ship.
Photo: Catania Worldwide
Demand has been good as well and feels stronger given the smaller crop.
As for pricing, it’s been fairly steady and up from last year’s pricing. “I think in the next couple of weeks, pricing will be steady and movement should be good,” Fagundes adds.
Imported kiwi
Meanwhile on imports, Mario Masellis of Catania Worldwide in Mississauga, Ontario also notes that supplies are good. “We are probably finished with our normal kiwi supply and will start into our controlled atmosphere kiwi supply. Our suppliers and growers in Europe are now dipping into their storage stocks,” says Masellis.
Mario Masellis says Italian kiwi volumes are down approximately 10 percent this season.
Supplies currently come largely from Italy and Greece. “The volume is down compared to last year—the total production down in Italy is 10 percent. There was a little bit of rain, cold, some bloom drop and disease. The Psa disease in certain growing regions of Italy continues to destroy vines,” says Masellis.
Meanwhile the fruit is coming into a time when demand, which has been good, picks up. “Pre-Christmas, kiwi doesn’t have big demand. It’s not known as a Christmas fruit. But usually end of January to March is when there’s more demand for fruit. It’s a cyclical item,” says Masellis. “Kiwi has also done extremely well in the pandemic. We’ve seen a rise in sales in all fruit, but especially kiwi fruit. I’m pretty sure it’s because of the vitamin C and the nutrient-dense fruit that it is.”
Potential gap coming?
That solid demand means that the European supplies could end sooner than usual. “There will possibly be a gap in supplies,” says Masellis. “We don’t have a final crop estimate from New Zealand and Chile could also be a week later in harvesting this year so it could be a minor gap.” He adds that while the major suppliers in Italy will still have fruit, the question remains as to whether they will ship it overseas or keep it for domestic supplies. “Greece will have some supply issues with regards to quality. The minute they see some pressure, they’ll choose to keep that fruit domestically and less will be shipped for export,” says Masellis.
Photo: Catania Worldwide
Shipping has also become an issue along with labor. “Labor and logistics will continue to be an issue moving forward,” says Masellis. “The labor to pick fruit and to pack fruit and the logistics just seem to be a nightmare lately. Containers will be held up, ships cancelled, steamship lines make their own schedule without caring what’s on board.”
As for pricing, Masellis notes that pricing is slightly higher compared to historical pricing based on the more limited supplies. “We’ll probably see another price increase mid-February,” he says, noting pricing did start out higher this year thanks to COVID-19 related costs and limitations.
For more information:
Mario Masellis
Catania Worldwide
Tel: +1-416-236-9394
[email protected]
http://www.cataniaworldwide.com/
John Fagundes
Cal Harvest Marketing Inc.
Tel: +1 (559) 582-4000
[email protected]
http://www.calharvest.com/