A week earlier than usual, the California table grape harvest ended in week 48, only days after Thanksgiving. This, says John Pandol, Special Projects Director at California producer Pandol Brothers, is slightly ahead of schedule, but not a radical difference compared to recent campaigns.
However, the California table grape season’s quickened pace seems to show more dramatically on the cold storage front. The latest US Department of Agriculture (USDA) data, published on December 4, show approximately 3.5 million boxes in cold storage in week 48.
The number represents a whopping 59 percent drop compared to week 46, when the agency reported over 8.5 million boxes left, and a 30 percent decrease versus the same period in the California table grape 2024 campaign.
The variety breakdown is not much better. In the 15 days between weeks 46 and 48, Autumn King dropped by 65 percent to nearly 780,000 boxes, while Red Globe fell by nearly 90 percent, to only 6,600 boxes. In the same period, Sweet Globe stock came down to 502 boxes, and Great Green fell 86 percent, totaling 20,337 boxes.
In its latest weekly report published on December 11, industry insight platform Produce Alliance issued an “extreme” advisory for the market, which is currently mainly nourished by California table grapes.
The document says the California table grape season has taken “a sharp turn as supplies dry up on storage fruit” due to strong post-Thanksgiving demand. The firm also questioned the quality of the remaining stock.
“Existing California fruit will see more prevalent quality issues such as high shatter, waterberry, possibly mold, and nesting as well as depleted shelf life as the fruit continues to age,” reads the report.
The platform drew buyers’ attention to a potential green grape shortage, recommending substituting the category for reds for the next two to three weeks, as imports from Chile and Peru are expected to start unloading only after the New Year.
“We do not expect significant volume and will see market volatility through the first of the year at the earliest, possibly the second week of January,” Produce Alliance continues.
Chile already announced it’s cutting table grape exports to the US by nine percent this season. The decrease is highly likely due to a slightly smaller crop projection for the current campaign and to the suspension of exports into the US under the systems approach.
Pandol told FreshFruitPortal.com that at one point, there was speculation that Peru would follow Chile’s lead and respond to the tariff impact by sending smaller early volumes to the US. However, the executive clarifies that it doesn’t seem to be the case.
“Our cold storage in Delano has fewer California grapes than anyone can remember and more Peruvian grapes,” he says.
Pandol Brothers finished its California table grape harvest at the end of week 47, according to the executive, and the company projects its last house packing will be done this week.
However, John Pandol invites buyers not to panic, saying the California table grape season includes heavy late programs and growers are “still house packing robustly.”
The executive also puts a question mark on the numbers in the USDA report, saying the Other Whites category in the document seems “way too low.”
“We are now 10 days past the report date, and certain packing houses, which have lots of late white varieties, have lots of people working even now,” he says.
The marketing efforts behind the California Table Grape season continue, as fruit is available at retail throughout the US and in markets such as New Zealand, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
*Main image courtesy of the California Table Grape Commission (archive); all other images are referential
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