Very rarely do we see such a wide range on green seedless spot market pricing, with clean fruit trading from as low as $16.00 and premium Autumn Crisp selling for as high as $36.00 FOB. With more than 13 million boxes of Autumn Crisp projected to be exported from Peru, the U.S. market has finally received the volumes needed to support the demand building from retailers who want this premium variety. If ever there was validation that Autumn Crisp has separated itself from the competition, our current market conditions are proof of that. Currently, the best jumbo Sweet Globes and other green varieties are trading from $24.00 to $26.00, while the very best and biggest Autumn Crisp are selling for $10.00 more a box. This poses a real challenge to those growers who don’t farm this variety, as more volumes are expected in the future. Fresh arrivals of good conditioned Chilean Thompsons and Superiors could trade between $20.00 and $22.00 FOB and there will be even cheaper quotes available in the market, but buyers should be aware that this fruit most likely won’t make it through their QA process.
Market Update for Table Grapes
Week of February 10 – February 16
Cold storages on both coasts are almost at capacity, as a steady stream of arrivals from Peru and Chile enter the U.S. market. Although 1 million fewer boxes left week 5 compared to week 4, marketers have their hands full with more than 12 million boxes received over the past three weeks and 5.7 million boxes expected to arrive next week. Retailers are finally promoting, so that should help stabilize a very unstable situation, but only the best quality fruit will find homes on retail shelves. With coolers filled with aging inventory, the wholesale markets are already flooded with distressed fruit making it almost impossible to maintain a secondary market for weaker lots. We should expect to see a true split market for the foreseeable future until all the old and poor-quality fruit is flushed from the market. Retail rejections could be on the rise, as marketers will be challenged to balance making clean arrivals and maintaining a first-in, first-out shipping strategy.