The supply of green Hayward kiwis out of California is similar to this time last year. "At this time of year, we probably have over 90 percent of the remaining volume out of California just because we have invested a lot in controlled atmosphere and long-term storage capabilities," says Al Bates, president of Sun Pacific Shippers.
Harvest started on Hayward kiwis in early October in the state this season and Bates anticipates supply will go until early August. "The quality on kiwis has been good and demand has been very consistent," he says, adding that the organic kiwi movement has also been good and in fact, increased a bit over prior years.
This season, Sun Pacific also had its red kiwi program with dramatically increased volume. Unlike the length of Hayward's season, these kiwis, which had improved sizing this year, ship from mid-October until the end of January. "Looking ahead, there might be a little bit of an increase in volume but the window is a lot shorter so we're trying to match our supply to where we think the demand is," says Bates.
Good export season
Meanwhile, demand in general for California kiwis is good and consistent. "We had a strong export program to Australia and Japan which is starting to wind down. Whenever the Southern Hemisphere starts harvesting, exports kind of go away and we focus on domestic distribution," says Bates, adding that it will probably have exports until the end of March.
On imports, there is industry product shipping from Italy with Southern Hemisphere fruit from New Zealand and Chile arriving later this spring. (Though New Zealand largely focuses on gold kiwis for the U.S. market.)
All of this is leaving pricing slightly lower than last year at this time both on organic and conventional. "Looking ahead, I think pricing will be pretty consistent," says Bates.
For more information:
Al Bates
Sun Pacific Shippers
Tel: +1 (213) 612-9957
https://sunpacific.com/