Florida is looking at a good crop for the grapefruit season, a welcome development following last year’s Hurricanes Helene and Milton which impacted the supply of Florida citrus overall. “We’ve not had a weather event this year. If that stays on course, we have a better crop than last year in volume and the quality is also good,” says Dan Richey of Riverfront Packing Company, adding that Florida grapefruit production will get underway in the first week of October.
This good crop is thanks in part to the continued grapefruit tree replanting efforts taking place in Florida. “There’s a lot of young tree fruit that’s coming on now and will start to advance and increase our volume,” he says. “It’s not going to happen this year in any great manner but as the years go forward, we believe we’ll start to see incremental increases in our volume available. So we’re optimistic about where we sit today and how these trees look. The fruit sizing is looking better and we’re pleased.”
© Riverfront Packing
This good grapefruit crop is thanks in part to the continued grapefruit tree replanting efforts taking place in Florida.
C.U.P.S. development
The Florida citrus under protective screens (C.U.P.S.) production is also expected to see an increase in volume which will complement the increased outdoor production, though the volume doesn’t match the shrinking volume of the aging trees.
Add to that the adequate moisture conditions for growing in the state, following some drought early on in the season. All of this is leading to the season starting possibly a week earlier than usual as well.
As for demand, domestic demand is anticipated to be steady. However, on international demand, things may be shifting. “We are a little concerned about the Canadian tariff issue and the response consumers had up there. They were unhappy with the tariffs and were boycotting U.S. product and that caught us at the end of the season,” says Richey. “We’re hopeful that that has settled down, even though our price point is naturally going to be higher than some imports that Canadians can get from Turkey specifically. We believe we compensate for that with a higher quality product.”
© Riverfront PackingDomestic demand for Florida grapefruit is anticipated to be steady. However, on international demand, things may be shifting.
Outlook on grapefruit exports
Meanwhile there is some interest in Florida grapefruit from countries such as France, Germany, Belgium as well as Japan and and Korea, though that stronger price point again is a challenge. “Turkey, Israel and Mexico are going into markets in Asia that arguably we developed and the low cost supplier from other geographic regions has come in and taken a bit of that business just on price. Those are our concerns but we’re hopeful to continue to market fruit into those regions,” he notes.
As for pricing, it’s expected to be similar and what will be on watch is the size distribution. “I think our fruit will be slightly larger than last year. Pricing on large fruit will likely still maintain a high number because there’s limited volume and it still does meet the demand,” says Richey, noting that some of the smaller sizes might be more aligned with supply and demand.
For more information:
Dan Richey
Riverfront Packing Company
Tel: +1 (772) 562-4124
www.scottcitrus.com
