California: lots of quantity and quality but the challenge is not to overlap with Washington

24 May 2024
351

California is witnessing a large harvest of cherries. “It’s one of the largest harvests we’ve had in the industry. It’s also a high-quality crop,” says Joe Cataldo of J&M Farms and Delta Packing Co. of Lodi, California. “The problem is that much of it is compressed.”

Although the season is delayed by a few days, California growers are aware that Washington, the next key region for cherry production on the West Coast, is ahead of schedule. “So there’s a rush to get into the market before Washington starts producing, which usually reduces the value of the crop,” he explains.

While some light harvests began at the end of April, the heavier harvests will start in the Lodi region at the end of this week and are expected to continue until around June 14.

As for demand, the environment is difficult right now, says Cataldo. “Cherries are still somewhat of a luxury item, and we’re in an economy where people are careful with their money,” he says. “The demand is there, and retailers are really aggressive and excited about cherries. The problem is that the prices are not fair for the growers. It’s getting to the point where it might not be sustainable for growers after Memorial Day.”

Memorial Day weekend is an important time for cherry production in the United States. However, growers continue to contend with the fact that prices have not increased, while labor costs have tripled. Growers are also producing better fruit.

Read the full article: FreshPlaza
Image: J&M Farms


Cherry Times - All rights reserved

What to read next

Mundoagro Capacita: great success for course on stress reduction in cherry trees

Events

22 Oct 2024

The last lesson held by Christian Gallegos, a consultant specializing in blueberries and cherries, founder of Berrycherry and technical director of CropSolutions, concluded with the topic of stress reduction in cherry trees with an average participation of 400 people.

Market saturation and unstable quality undermine Chinese production

Markets

31 May 2024

The increase in production has also made it difficult for domestic cherries to maintain high prices. According to reports, China's production of sweet cherries is expected to reach 760,000 tonnes in 2024, an increase of 12 per cent from the previous year.

In evidenza

Cherry varieties with low chilling requirements: Bloom Fresh's answer to climate change

Breeding

30 Oct 2024

"Most traditional cherries need a minimum of 800 hours of chilling, but our low-chilling varieties can produce fruit with less than half of those hours. This opens up cultivation opportunities in areas with milder winters."

How cold treatment works for shipping cherries to China

Post-harvest​

30 Oct 2024

One of the restrictions imposed by the Chinese authorities concerns the packaging warehouse, which has to establish how to apply differentiated fruit handling throughout the process, from receipt to packaging and storage of the cherries.

Tag Popolari