Market Update

Market Snapshot*

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was reporting the following prices on selected organic produce items:

Apples: U.S. extra fancy red delicious, cartons/tray packs, size 80s from Yakima Valley and Wenatchee, Wash., $22; size 100s, $18-20; galas size 88s, $28-30, size 100s, $25-28.

Carrots: Sacks of 48 1-pound film bags from Kern County, Calif., medium/large size, $24.35; 24 2-pound bags, $24.35; 10 5-pound bags, $24.35-24.85.

Raspberries: 12 6-ounce cups with lids from Oxnard, Calif., $16.

* Prices from the USDA's Fruit & Vegetable Market News, Dec. 3.

The Shipping Scene

So far, the economic downturn does not appear to be scaring off many organic produce buyers, the Organic Trade Association, Greenfield, Mass., says.

Consumers bought more than $8 billion worth of organic fresh, canned and frozen fruits and vegetables in 2007, according to the association, and that figure is expected to increase 15% annually through 2010.

That's welcome news for organic apple growers in Washington.

"This year, there's a huge crop of organic apples out of Washington - almost triple the amount of years prior," said Matt Roberts, sales and marketing coordinator for CF Fresh in Sedro Woolley.

CF Fresh ships organic apples, pears, potatoes and onions.

The organic apple crop gets under way about the same time as the conventional crop but winds down earlier because organic apples can't be held in storage as long as conventional fruit, Roberts said.

CF Fresh will have some organic Washington apples into May and then will transition to fruit from the Southern Hemisphere.

"It's been a challenge," Roberts said, because a significant amount of apple acreage completed its transition period last year and now can be marketed as organic.

Because of a colder-than-usual spring, sizing will be on the small side this season, he said.

The company also ships russet, red and yukon gold potatoes from August until April. They can't be stored as long as conventional potatoes, Roberts said, because sprout inhibitors can't be applied to organic potatoes, and they will start to sprout when weather turns warm in the spring.

"The quality is good in most respects," Roberts said, but sizing "is not overwhelming" on russets because of cool growing weather in eastern Washington. Large russets will be priced at a premium because of short supplies.

Reds and yukons should be fine sizewise because they're grown in the western part of the state and in southwest British Columbia, where growing conditions were good.

CF Fresh also is shipping good-quality red and yellow onions, Roberts said.

"It's been a nice crop, and there are a lot of them out there," he said.

The company has finished its bartlett pear deal, but anjou and bosc varieties should be available from Washington until the end of February, when the company will switch to Argentine product.

Alderman Farms in Boynton Beach, Fla., offers locally grown organic grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, bicolor corn, green beans, cucumbers, bell peppers, zucchini, yellow straightneck squash and eggplant, said Tom Wilson, sales manager.

Quality is very good this year, he said, but cold snaps have slowed the harvest somewhat, so the company might be picking some items every two or three days rather than daily.

Wilson expects Alderman Farms to have strong volume through May, and supplies should be plentiful for Christmas.

"We've grown less conventional and gone more organic this year," he said.

So far, Wilson said, organic sales have remained good despite the tough economy. Higher prices on conventional produce have somewhat blurred the cost difference between conventional and organic product.

Awe Sum Organics Inc., Capitola, Calif., is shipping Italian kiwifruit as well as cherries and blueberries from South America, said salesman Dan Cheatham. The company's main deal consists of pears and apples from the Southern Hemisphere in the spring and summer.

Awe Sum Organics will ship organic cherries and blueberries into January and Italian kiwifruit until early April, when the deal will switch to New Zealand, Cheatham said.

"The cherries we have arrived beautiful," he said. They are shipped via air freight.

The kiwifruit is "marvelous" with high sugar levels, he said, and the blueberries are comparable to conventional product.

Cheatham expected the company's volume of organic produce to be equal to or possibly greater than last year's.

Consumers appear to be giving up traveling or dining out rather than foregoing organic fruits and vegetables, said Barbara Haumann, senior writer/editor for the Organic Trade Association.

Organic sales may not be increasing exponentially, like they were in the past, but double-digit growth continues, she said.

"Consumers feel organic fits in with their personal values," she said. "We do not anticipate that sales are going down."

(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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