California kiwifruit season-opening prices have been excellent for the conventional Hayward variety sold in the domestic market. The season to date average FOB for a nine-kilo (19.8-pound) volume filltray was $25.37.  

At the end of November, approximately 28% of the Hayward crop had been shipped. This is a little higher than the normal average of about 24% for that period. Strong demand ranks these early-season shipment volumes as the fourth highest in the last nine years.

California’s kiwifruit crop is down about 20% from the 9.4 million seven-pound tray equivalents produced in 2021. Frost this spring cut back the 2022 volume to an estimated 7.2- to 7.5-million trays of the Hayward variety. This is still enough volume to sell well into the summer months. The next harvest begins in late September.

Non-Hayward varieties include the green Mega and red and gold varieties of the Chinensis species. In 2021-22 the total non-Hayward varieties sold were 750,000 tray equivalents.

Eighty percent of California’s kiwifruit is sold domestically. Canada, Mexico and Japan have historically been the largest export markets, but Australia has jumped in as a major buyer over the last two seasons. So far this year, 13% of the fruit has been exported to Australia. Toews said Australian buyers’ phytosanitary problems with another international supplier opened the door to California.

This season’s first few flats were shipped Oct. 1. By Dec. 3, 1,519,461 tray equivalents had been shipped domestically,with an additional 365,545 flats going to export, for an average FOB exportprice of $30.34.

Source:FreshPlaza

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