DNE World Fruit Sales upbeat on citrus supply
From South African and Australian navels to Mexican lemons, Peruvian clementines to Florida grapefruit, DNE World Fruit Sales national sales manager Stu Monaghan gives www.freshfruitportal.com a wrap of recent citrus trends and his outlook for the coming season.
Supplying a steady stream of citrus fruit to U.S. consumers is no easy task, but for DNE the category has shown success this year from a variety of sourcing countries and regions.
"Everybodyās got to re-invent the wheel it seems each year to entice retailers and get them on board on the program, but I think one thing we proved this year was that itās not necessarily about price but itās about consistency," says Monaghan.
"Some of the retailers learned the hard way that just because something is cheaper, that doesnāt mean its better, that it's going to last longer on the shelf, that it's going to be available every week with notable volumes."
Monaghan highlights the popularity of Australian navel oranges and Peruvian clementines this year.
"With our Australian program we went to our retailers at the beginning of the season and said hereās what weāve got; we understand Chile is going to be more affordable at times, and other times theyāre going to be even priced, but if you stick with Australia we can get you great quality all season long, you wonāt have a gap in supply, and thatās exactly what weāve done.
"Australians certainly proved themselves as markedly the finest navel growers in the world, but every season is different. It really depends on mother nature and what kind of growing conditions you have.
"Peru made some great inroads this year with their clementines and they've proven themselves to be a solid supplier throughout the season - their proximity to the U.S. makes it very affordable to the U.S. consumer in terms of the final retail price."
Monaghan notes that South Africa too had a 'notable' season on the East Coast but recommends the country change its export timing strategy.
"They really had consistent quality throughout, but a suggestion might be for them not to crunch so much fruit into a smaller window.
"Everybody wins when fruit gets rotated and moves out, and if thereās too much shipped at one time it just jams up and ends up looking bad for the industry.
He adds that Mexico's lemon season, which runs from July to December, has also been impressive this year.
"Itās going really well right now. the Mexican lemon deal is a lot like weāve talked about Peruvian clementines āthey continue to get better and this year itās very good.
"Weāve had excellent quality out of Mexico and we expect to expand that program and hopefully get a little earlier start next year, but the fruit tells you when you can start."
Outlook
Monaghan says DNE will be changing its approach with Australian citrus this year to make the most of market windows.
"One thing we do expect is a little earlier start in the season. We feel it captured more of the market share in early July, and thatās beneficial for the Australian program," he says.
"We do intend to have a stronger specialty market in terms of red oranges and late season clementines, the afourers.
"With the seedless mandarins that start in late September, we would hope to grow the program and if thereās a chance to begin earlier, as long as the fruit tastes good, weāre going to focus on that."
Monaghan is also excited about the Florida citrus season, but calls for more focus on quality to improve grapefruit demand.
"Weāre the largest grapefruit grower in the state of Florida and we have big plans for a strong Florida citrus season with grapefruit, tangerines and navels and juice oranges.
"Weāve just got the results from estimates for this year and we expect to have very similar numbers for grapefruit but with larger sizes - you'll see a lot of throughout November and December.
"Number one itās got to taste better when we get to the supermarket. There's no point in rushing it to the market - weāve got the right varieties in the ground, we just need to make sure we donāt start too early."
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