Strong season for organic California stone fruit anticipated

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California’s organic stone fruit season will likely kick off around May 1st. To date, the state has seen a favorable growing season for the fruit. “There was some rainfall in the early spring here that created ideal conditions for the fruit. Growers are feeling as if they may be a week ahead of last year with production and they’re starting to thin out trees,” says Jarod Hunting of Earl’s Organic Produce, adding that the fruit set looks strong.

Cherries from Dwelley Family Farms.

Apricots from California will go from the first week of May to possibly the middle of July while cherries will start around the same time and go until the 4th of July. By June 1st, organic nectarines and peaches will be fully underway and plums will begin slightly behind that. California offers late-season varieties of plums which means availability will stretch into October.

Growth across category
So how does Hunting anticipate demand to look this season? On cherries, Earl’s Organic partners with Dwelley Family Farms in Brentwood, California. “Last year with their collaboration, we had a banner year in organic cherry sales. So for volume and demand, we’re leaning into another very strong year for us,” he says, adding that over the last four to five years it’s seen steady growth in all stone fruit. “Apricots especially continue to grow for us and we work with Frog Hollow Farm.”

“Growers are feeling as if they may be a week ahead of last year with production and they’re starting to thin out trees,” says Jarod Hunting.

Helping demand could also be some internal strategies the company has implemented, starting with diversifying its offerings and focusing on growers’ stories. “We’ve brought on growers such as Balakian Farms in Reedley, California which is a much smaller grower than some of the ones we work with. They are a third-generation Armenian family and focus on tree-ripened fruit as well as some unique heirloom varietals which we brought in last year and were very successful. Instead of cannibalizing other categories, it just helped grow overall sales,” says Hunting.

For more information:
Susan Simitz
Earl’s Organic Produce
Tel: +1 (415) 824-7419
[email protected]
https://www.earlsorganic.com/

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Source: The Plantations International Agroforestry Group of Companies