Agronometrics Blog

Overview of the South American grapes upcoming season, complemented by charts from Agronometrics.   Original published in FreshFruitPortal.com   on November 26, 2020  The California table grape harvest season is drawing to a close, marking the start of the transition to South American harvests which are predicted to be larger than usual this year and could result in an oversupply situation in the first quarter of 2021. Volume (in KG) of grapes from California and South America, in the US market Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics . (Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here ) John Pandol, special project director of Pandol Bros, told FreshFruitPortal.com that his company finished picking their grapes in week 47, somewhat early, but nothing outside of the normal range. The California grape crop, in general, this year was slightly larger than last year’s with the numbers for the Western Fruit Cold Storage Summary as of Nov. 15 listed as 12.4 million

Overview of the Peruvian and Chilean blueberry season by Ian Grigg and Helena Beckett of Giddings Fruit, complemented by charts from Agronometrics.   Original published in FreshPlaza.com   on November 24, 2020  Giddings Fruit, after having expanded their presence in the produce market for the past 20 years, has recently opened up their first US office, located in Monterey, California. “The purpose of the new office here in the US is to cultivate our direct relationships with national and regional retailers, and foodservice providers. Giddings Fruit has had a presence in the US for quite some time and wanted to invest in expanding their market here,” says Helena Beckett, the Director of Sales for Giddings US. While the US branch of Giddings is currently still relatively small, the plan is to continue to build deliberately and strategically towards a year-round supply of the full berry basket, while maintaining all of their current strategic partnerships. Ian Grigg, the Chief Operat

The International Blueberry Organization (IBO) recently launched the newest iteration of the State of the Industry Report, a publication with a rich 20-year history highlighting the most important blueberry trends. The 2020 report builds on this legacy, modernizing the report in an all-digital format that is being made for the first time free to the public. Visit the report with the following link: https://report.internationalblueberry.org This Special Edition focused on the Americas is being published in response to the uncertainty and need for accurate data since the US International Trade Center’s (USITC)investigation into blueberries imports , which carries with it the possibility of imposing a “trade remedy” to restrict imports in order to protect US production. The report, which Agronometrics helped create, is an impartial tool built from member provided data. The report offers the most complete accounting of hectares planted and production statistics available anywhere,

Overview of the Chilean summer fruit exports to the US, complemented by charts from Agronometrics.   Original published in ThePacker.com   on November 18, 2020  As the pandemic trudges into winter, a taste of summer from Chile may be just what the doctor ordered. Fresh cherries, grapes, blueberries, stone fruit and more are on their way to the U.S. via air and boat, offering plenty of promotion opportunities over the next six months. “Retailers were eager to call out vitamin C and other health messages during our summer and fall citrus promotions,” said Karen Brux, managing director for North America of the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association. “As COVID-19 continues and we enter flu season, I expect they’ll continue to focus on health benefits.” Brux said February is the key month for promotions as volumes will be at their peak. “In December we have small volumes of cherries, blueberries and grapes, while January brings larger volumes of blueberries. February is the key promotion m

Overview of the Peruvian avocado season by Daniel Bustamante of the Association of Producers of Hass Avocado of Peru (Prohass), complemented by charts from Agronometrics.   Original published in FreshPlaza.com   on November 16, 2020  According to the president of the Association of Producers of Hass Avocado of Peru (Prohass), Daniel Bustamante Canny, even though Peru's avocado industry has experienced notable development, it will continue to grow. In the 2021 season, Peruvian Hass avocado exports could increase by 10% in volume over the 360,000 tons shipped this year, he said. Volume (in KG) of avocados from Peru in the US market Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics . (Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here ) However, Bustamante said, achieving this increase will only be possible if the sector control's some variables that affect it, such as the oversupply of fruit, the concentration of high export volumes in a few weeks, and shipments of

Overview of the supply of blueberries from Peru in the U.S. Market, complemented by charts from Agronometrics.   Original published in FreshPlaza.com   on November 18, 2020  Strategically, for the Peruvian industry, the Asian market is emerging as an excellent destination for its blueberries if the restrictions are specified in the United States The 2020/21 campaign for the export and marketing of blueberries in the world is showing an extraordinary increase, which strengthens and diversifies demand by increasing consumption, but in turn affects the value of the fruit, reducing its price in the markets as a result of this on fruit supply. Blueberry exports, mainly from Peru, which this year has advanced its campaign starting in June, is showing shipments greatly increased in relation to previous seasons, increasing the figures, both in tons and in traded values The United States is the main destination for Peruvian blueberries, which, in addition to being an importing country,

Overview of the supply of citrus from Texas, complemented by charts from Agronometrics.   Original published in ThePacker.com   on November 17, 2020  Industry expectations for the Texas citrus crop estimate a smaller output than last year, primarily because of fruit damage from Hurricane Hanna in late July. In its October forecast, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated the crop as slightly bigger than a year ago. The USDA said Texas orange production for 2020-21 is forecast at 64,000 tons, up from 57,000 tons in 2019-20. Early, mid-season and navel orange production is estimated at 55,000 tons, up from 49,000 tons a year ago, according to the October crop report. Valencia orange production is forecast at 9,000 tons, up from 8,000 tons last season. Volumes (in KG) of oranges from Texas in the US market Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics . (Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here ) The USDA estimates Texas grapefruit production at 196,00

Between weeks 27 and 32 of the 2020-21 season, cherries registered higher average prices than those of the last four seasons in the U.S. market, as well as very similar volumes to the past year’s. The great unknown is whether this price level will be maintained now that a new season has begun in the southern hemisphere with a forecast of historic harvests and exports from Chile. As we can see in the graph below, in week 32, the last average prices registered in the North American market were of US$6.17 per kilo, a 31 percent rise from the 2019-20 season where average prices were US$4.71 per kilo. Price of cherries in the U.S. market (USD/KG) Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics . (Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here ) In the latest Chilean seasons, prices from the southern hemisphere began to be registered in week 47. In that week the average prices of the 2019/2020 season began at US$10.5 per kilo, 12 percent higher than the previous year w

Overview of the US strawberry imports, complemented by charts from Agronometrics.   Original published in Gro-intelligence.com/   on November 12, 2020  US imports of fresh produce are coming under increased scrutiny as the Trump administration adds strawberries to a list of imported items it is requesting be investigated for possibly harming US fruit and vegetable growers. Strawberry imports, mainly from Mexico, represent about 16% of the US market, which is valued at about $2.5 billion wholesale annually. If the investigation proceeds, a potential trade action against the imports could bring higher prices in the US market. In a similar action, a Section 201 investigation by the US International Trade Commission was recently requested into blueberry imports. A probe into imports of fresh peppers, the second largest fresh vegetable import, also has been sought. US imports of strawberries totaled 184 million tonnes in 2019, up nearly fourfold since 2005. About 99% of the imports