Agronometrics Blog

Overview of the Eastern apple season by Lisa Fetterhoff of Keystone Fruit Marketing, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published in FreshPlaza.com   on September 21, 2021  As Keystone Fruit Marketing, a division of Progressive Produce, knows, apples and autumn go hand in hand. Crisp, juicy apples have long been part of Keystone's history. Established in 1977, Keystone got its start marketing local Pennsylvania apples and since then has earned a reputation as a reliable produce industry partner within the apple, sweet onion, peach and watermelon categories. "We value relationships with our customers and growers and we pride ourselves on our commitment to high standards of integrity and quality when it comes to bringing you fresh products all year long," said Lisa Fetterhoff, director of operations. Apples are an excellent commodity for retailers to promote in October and November with seasonal promotions around the autumn holidays. The 2021 harve

In this week's edition, we will look into the average prices and volumes of asparagus in the U.S. market and how they have been behaving, specifically by varieties and origin. Average prices of asparagus in the U.S. market this year have followed the regular curve of other years, with prices higher or lower than last year depending on the weeks in which they were recorded. As of week 35, and until now in week 37, prices have broken with the regular trend of last year and are trending higher. It should be noted that on average, prices in 2021 have been below those of last year. As can be seen in the graph below, asparagus prices in week 37 were US$5.70 per kilogram, a 73 percent increase year on year. Average asparagus prices in the U.S. market (USD/KG) Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics . (Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here ) Regarding the average prices of asparagus according to variety, we can see that in week 37 prices for the &quo

Overview of avocados from Mexico in the U.S. market, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published in ProduceBlueBook.com   on September 20, 2021  DALLAS, Sept. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Avocados From Mexico BB #:371130 – the No. 1 selling brand of avocados in the U.S. – is ensuring shoppers have the avocados they seek this fall football season with two new football-focused programs. The shopper and trade programs will inspire, delight and attract even more in-store attention to Avocados From Mexico across the nation, driving consumption of the beloved fruit this fall and winter season. Football season marks the top occasion where avocados are served and prepared, and there are more than 600 football viewing occasions during a season. 1 Nearly half of all avocado eaters say they plan to eat avocados – most often guacamole – during those football games, making the season a key window for avocados in the United States.1 In fact, Mexican avocados are the onl

Overview of the Peru blueberry season, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published in FreshPlaza.com   on September 17, 2021  According to the general manager of Terra Business, Federico Beltran Molina, the world has 200,000 hectares devoted to blueberry production, and Peru, which currently has 15,000 hectares in production, stands out as one of the most competitive countries in this global industry. Beltran Molina also said he expected Peru would increase its cultivated area to 20,000 hectares in 3 years, which would allow it to consolidate its world leadership in the export of fresh blueberries. “The blueberry sector's transformation is due to a positive irruption of many genetic options and new technologies. Peru quickly incorporated new technologies and new genetics. This, together with the country's benign climate, allowed the sector to rapidly learn about the potential of the varieties.” Peru currently has 50 varieties of blueberries installed, com

Overview of the North America blueberry supplies, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published in FreshPlaza.com   on September 15, 2021  Supplies of blueberries are lighter this month. Domestically, Gerardo López of Produce Lovers says that there are still some supplies of berries from growing regions in the U.S. and Canada but those are being kept close to their origin because they don’t have the legs to travel. As for Mexico, it officially started with blueberries the first week of September. “But there’s been availability since early August,” says López. “Those supplies are mainly kept for the domestic market in Mexico because it pays well compared to U.S. and Canadian prices. But as soon as fruit from Oregon and B.C. starts to have a problem in terms of quality, importers and retailers look to Mexico.” Reported Prices (in USD/Kg) of blueberries supplies in the US Market  Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics . (Agronometrics users can view this cha

Overview of the Washington apple season by Chuck Zeutenhorst of FirstFruits Marketing, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published in FreshPlaza.com   on September 14, 2021  An early heat wave across the Pacific Northwest has affected produce growth all around the region, but Chuck Zeutenhorst, vice president of First Fruits Farms in Prescott, Washington, is still optimistic despite a prediction of a smaller harvest. “I think we’re going to see a reduction in the overall crop size,” he said. “One of the latest estimates had us at approximately 125 million fresh bushel boxes. I don’t know if that’s going to be possible with some of the conditions because of some of that heat, and what it did to the fruit during the June and July time periods.” Volumes (in Kg) of apples from Washington in the US Market  Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics . (Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here ) “As an industry we’re very used to handling heat,

This week in "In Charts" we will take a look at how average blueberry prices and volumes have been doing in the U.S. market, specifically by type (conventional and organic) and origin. Average blueberry prices in the U.S. market this year have followed the regular curve but have had higher prices year on year. Marked differences have been seen between weeks one and seven, weeks 13 and 18 and now between weeks 32 and 36. Prices are higher despite the fact that in these last weeks, blueberry imports in the U.S. saw a 35 percent increase in value year on year. The graph below shows that conventional blueberry prices in week 36 were US$7.74 per kilogram, a 51 percent increase year on year. Currently, prices of blueberries from Canada, Michigan, Peru, Washington and Oregon are being recorded. Average prices of conventional blueberries in the U.S. market (USD/KG) Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics . (Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates he

Overview of the Mexico's citrus exports, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published in FreshFruitPortal.com   on September 10, 2021  Mexico's citrus exports through August this year increased by 28 percent year-on-year, reaching a total value of over US$912 million, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader). The main destination for Mexican citrus fruits is the U.S. followed by the Netherlands, Japan, Germany and the UK. Exports of citrus represented over 78 percent of imports of the fruit from the U.S. Volumes (KG) of Mexican citrus in the US Market.  Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics . (Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here ) Mexico is the world's second-largest exporter of limes, with almost 18 percent of the world sales value. It is the fourth world producer of grapefruit and the orange has the largest planted area in the country. Veracruz has over 50 percent of the orange pro

Overview of the California strawberry supply, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published in ThePacker.com   on September 8, 2021  Strawberries typically aren’t thought of as “fall fruit,” but plenty of promotable volume will be available in the months ahead. Nearly a quarter of total California fresh strawberry shipments in 2020 were shipped from September through December, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures. As of Aug. 8, fresh strawberry shipments from California so far this year totaled 137.7 million crates, down from 145.4 million crates the same time last year but similar to 137.1 million trays two years ago. At the same time a year ago, about 31% of the of 210-million-crate 2020 crop remained to be shipped. California fresh strawberry volume was running at 5.9 million crates for the week ending Aug. 7. The hot weather in the West has not really affected strawberry production as much it may have had an effect on other crops, said Jim