Gear Up for a Great Stone Fruit Season
Stone fruit season is just getting started and it is going to be a delicious one! Cherries were the first on the scene, with bright red varieties like Brooks leading the pack and Bing coming right behind. While the season started with a flush of cherries, volume has tapered and it looks like pricing will remain firm until the season gets going in the Northwest. With the cooler weather in the last week, harvests are expected to start in Northwest orchards around the second week of June. There won’t be the glut (and drop in price) that there was last year, but volume should pick up by the end of June, just in time for 4th of July promotions. The first of the yellow blush Rainier will start coming in from California in the next few weeks.
California apricots are already tasting great with their signature velvety texture, and plenty of two-layer packs are available for promos. The Northwest season will be an interesting one. Trees in the region had more flowers than ever, truly setting records, and even with efforts to drop flowers and thin fruit, the crop is so dense that apricots will probably be sizing up small but with plenty for sale fliers. OGC’s stone fruit buyer Brian Keogh is looking into volume packs and tote options, so let your Account Rep know if you are interested.
Both California grown yellow and white peaches and nectarines are already delicious and craveable, a clear sign that the careful selection of early varieties pays off for eaters. The Northwest crop has been shifting in recent years, with many orchards moving away from organic peaches and nectarines in particular. That said, OGC is working with growers in the region to ensure no customer goes through stone fruit season without a tree ripened peach.
Harvest of plums and pluots will start in the next two weeks in California, with the Flavorosa leading the pack. The names of plums and pluots have been a bit all over the place in the last few years, with large stone fruit grower Wawona claiming copyright for many of the most common names. They’ve since gone out of business, so familiar varietals will be back on boxes and signs. Both the California and Northwest crops are looking robust this year, with more than forty varieties in all kinds of colors.
Gear up for all of the juicy gems to come by checking out OGC’s Stone Fruit Toolkit full of useful information for you, your team and your shoppers.