October 24, 2008

Washington Apples

Market Snapshot*

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was reporting the following prices for Washington Extra-Fancy Grade tray pack cartons of new-crop apples:

Red delicious: Size 72, $24-26; 80, $24-26; 125, $20-22.

Golden delicious: Size 72, $24-26; 80, $24-26; 125, $18-20.

Granny smith: Size 72, $26-30; 80, $26-28; 125, $18-20.

Gala: Size 72, mostly $26; 80, mostly $26; 125, mostly $20.

* Prices from the USDA's Fruit & Vegetable Market News, Oct. 22.

The Shipping Scene

Good growing conditions in Washington this season are bringing on a crop that grower-shippers seem especially pleased with.

"Quality is very good on everything," said Roger Pepperl, marketing director for Stemilt Growers Inc., Wenatchee.

Stemilt had picked about three-quarters of its new-season crop by late last week, with all varieties under way except pink ladies, which were scheduled to start earlier this week.

Fuji, red delicious and piñatas were some of the varieties the company was picking.

Red delicious fruit was slightly smaller than usual because of poor cell division, Pepperl said. That could lead to a smaller red delicious crop, since more apples will be required to fill a box.

On the other hand, "Our golden delicious crop is the best-looking crop of goldens that we've seen in a long time," he said. It's peaking on sizes 80s and 88s.

Best prices will be on some of the smaller-size apples, like bags of 100s, he said. Premium sizes are in high demand and are commanding higher prices.

Stemilt also will have 65% more organic apples this season than last and will offer a good deal on 3-pound combo bags packed with organic red, golden delicious and granny smith varieties.

"That's a great way for people to get into organics," Pepperl said.

Stemilt has introduced new packaging on all of its apples this year and now offers a 2-pound pack of its popular Apple-Sweets brand sliced apples.

The harvest also is in full swing at Ranier Fruit Co. in Selah, said Randy Abhold, sales director.

The company kicked off the season with galas Aug. 20 and should finish harvesting in early to mid-November.

Ranier was picking fujis and red delicious apples and finishing up golden delicious, granny smith and braeburn varieties, among others.

Although the fruit in general is a bit smaller than last season, Abhold anticipated "very good, promotional sizing."

Concerns that an April frost would adversely affect the size and quality of crop proved unfounded, he said.

"We have a good crop to market this year, and the quality is exceptional," Abhold said.

This year's crop should be larger than last year's shorter crop, which resulted in some shippers having trouble supplying customers through the summer.

"Last summer, we had the largest shortage of apples that we can remember," he said.

Ranier has become "very proficient in all packages" and can supply customers with bulk or bagged product, Abhold said.

Sedro Woolley-based CF Fresh, which markets certified organic apples, is shipping all of its varieties except pink ladies, which should start soon, said Matt Roberts, sales and marketing coordinator.

"We've got a lot of fruit off the trees," he said.

Sizing is off a bit this season on some varieties, he said, and he described quality as "decent" but "probably not the best year Washington has ever had."

Some adverse weather conditions last spring affected the current crop, he said.

A brief cold spell about two weeks ago didn't stay around for long, and Roberts was optimistic that the weather would hold long enough to get the remaining fruit off the trees.

He expected to see plenty of bagged product this season because of smaller sizing, and he said pricing likely will be lower than last year on organic apples because the crop size should be double what it was last season.

The Washington Apple Commission in Wenatchee estimated in August that the state's growers would produce 99.6 million bushel cartons of apples and upped that estimate by 3% to 5% in mid-October.

Todd Fryhover, export director, said that sizes likely would peak on 88s to 100s this year compared with 80s last year.

Red delicious, gala, granny smith, golden delicious and fuji are the state's most popular varieties, he said.

Growers export 30% of their volume to Mexico, Canada and about 30 other countries.

(By Tom Burfield, Western correspondent for The Packer. The Packer and Red Book Credit Services are part of food360º, a division of Vance Publishing Corp., Lincolnshire, Ill.)

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