Santa Maria's fall strawberry season has kicked off. "A couple of warm days last week gave growers in the region a jump start," says Ira Greenstein with Direct Source Marketing. Daily pack outs of the Portola variety are trending in the right direction and substantially higher volumes are expected over the next two weeks. Up north, in the Watsonville area, growers continue to pack a mixed bag of fruit. "To ensure good arrivals, laborers increasingly have to drop ripe fruit." Volumes out of Watsonville will continue to decline over the next few weeks, but with Santa Maria's volume increasing, the south should be able to pick up the slack.
Looking ahead, the expectations for the fall crop are high. The extended weather forecast looks very good, with daily temperatures in the low 70s and evening temperatures in the mid-50s. "These temperatures are great for both berry solidity as well as retail shelf life," shared Greenstein. "We should expect FOBs to range from $16.00 to $18.00 with most retail programs locked in at $16.00 FOB, which is typical for this time of year. With the transition to fall items, the berry category is not being heavily promoted currently. "If volumes pick up and demand doesn't, marketers could be offering daily deals to keep coolers clean."
Waiting for blueberries from Peru
The domestic blueberry season is wrapping up and changing over to imports. The start of the import season out of Peru shows a similar pattern compared to last season. "In 2023, we saw historically high blueberry prices as El Niño had significantly impacted Peruvian volumes," mentioned Greenstein. Production was down more than 30 percent as a result of excessive rainfall and cooler weather. This season is starting out with similar high prices again, which is an effect of last season. "El Niño caused a delay in pruning, which is now resulting in another late start to Peru's season." Peak volumes aren't expected to reach the U.S. East Coast until the middle of October. At the same time, U.S. and Canadian (British Columbia) quality is on the decline. There is still fruit being offered, just not enough quality fruit to fill the pipeline, putting pressure on Peru to start shipping.
The spot market has a wide range, with quality and country of origin being the determining factors. As supply out of British Columbia is going down, the price of pints ranges between $36.00 and $38.00. However, a decline in quality results in limited retail interest. Peruvian pints on the other hand, range from $48.00 to $52.00. "These extremely high FOBs are the result of a shortage of high-quality blueberries in the North American market and we can expect to see these high prices for the remainder of September." Conventional blueberries are gradually arriving, and the first organic blueberries won't be available until the end of this month.
For more information:
Ira Greenstein
Direct Source Marketing
Tel: +1 (914) 241-4434
[email protected]
www.directsourcemktg.com