Oranges
California Navels/Valencias
Navels are wrapping up very quickly down the final stretch of the domestic West Coast season. Many growers in California have finished already, with many finishing this week. There will be some navels through next week, but very limited in fancy fruit. There will be some deals on choice navels to finish the season. We are in full swing on domestic California Valencias, packing almost every day. Pricing is flat week over week with deals across the board on sizing. Crop has a good distribution across all sizes and quality has been excellent.
Import Navels
Import navels from South Africa and Chile are scheduled to arrive this week. Pricing will open high for transactional sales until roughly the middle of July; then, pricing will start to come off and eventually plateau at its lowest point in mid-August. Sizing on the crop will peak on 88 count. South Africa experienced extreme rainfall two weeks ago. This rainfall will not impact first arrivals from South Africa, but it will cause delays on the next arrivals. From a quality perspective, fruit should be fine and hold up for the time being, but this could impact the fruit down later in the season.
Cara Cara Oranges
Chile is slightly delayed due to the rain they received. Peak sizing will be 64/72/56 counts. Quality is expected to be good, but we will have a better picture next week when loading finishes. There was a slight freeze a few weeks ago in the central part of Chile. We are assessing the fruit as it is being harvested, but we don't anticipate any issues. The freeze was nowhere near as bad as last year's freeze. The first boat of Caras is going on the water next week it will be a mixed container with navels to see quality. There might be a few Caras in the market from South Africa around the same time also, but they have had hard rains. Expect fruit to be ready to ship the 4th week of July.
Minneola
Delayed about 10 days this year due to warmer weather in Peru compared to last year. Quality is appearing to be good at this point, but we will get some better information as they begin to harvest and pack. Peak sizing will be 40-45 count. The 1st Peruvian boat left with a few pallets on it, and last week (July 3rd week), volume started to pick up on the boats. We expect fruit in week 3 of July (July 17th), and volume to be shipped out the week of July 24th. There is an outside chance we could start 7/20-7/21.
Grapefruit
Currently harvesting and packing Star Ruby grapefruit in California. Quality has been excellent and a good distribution of all sizes. California Star Ruby grapefruit will be available now through mid-July. Imports from South Africa will be here this week. Sizing this year is peaking on 28/40/48 count. Mid-range sizing will be limited this year. Peru is scheduled to start the middle of August. California is really pushing fruit right now as they have plenty and are looking to move fruit to wrap up the Star Ruby season.
Lemons
California is all but done, with questionable quality and lack of volume. District 2 lemons had very little volume this year. Lemons out of Argentina are here and there is plenty of fruit available. We are seeing more arrivals and July will be a good month to start pushing lemons. Sizing out of Argentina will be smaller this year with peaks on 140/115/95 count, in that order. Mexico will start harvest next week, and volumes are not expected to pick up until August.
Mandarins
Chilean and Peruvian mandarins are in full swing with steady arrivals. Fruit is peaking on 32s and smaller with more than 50% of the crop sizing in the 36/40 sizes. Fruit will be here through October into November. Pricing relief will start the back half of July. South African mandarins are arriving this week and there is a good distribution of all sizes.
