Market Update for Stone Fruit

Week of January 12 – January 18

Importers are moving through significant volumes of Chilean cherries, as close to 2 million boxes have arrived over the past 14 days. Exports have already topped last year’s numbers, and we still have 5 weeks left before the very last arrivals hit the U.S. East Coast. So far, consumers seem to be supporting the aggressive retail prices and strong promotional activity, but there is always buyer fatigue lurking. The industry will continue to promote through the balance of the month, but marketers will look to take the market higher by the first week of February. Exports will continue to drop off now through week 4, but marketers should be careful not to take pricing too high and stop the momentum that has gotten them through the season so far.