Organic Grape Production Shifting to San Joaquin Valley

By mid-July, organic grape production will have shifted to California’s San Joaquin Valley from both the Coachella Valley and Mexico, adding some stability and predictability to a deal in which supplies in the market didn’t necessarily match the rhetoric, most notably from Mexico. 

One shipper, who asked not to be identified, called it a “cluster……” as Mexico had fewer supplies than anticipated or announced at the beginning of the deal and then flooded the market with grapes toward the end.  “Retailers didn’t know which way to go,” he said, again speaking both of organic and conventional supplies.  Mexico and the more reliable, albeit smaller, Coachella Valley deals will be finishing up this week.

Rob Spinelli of Anthony Vineyards said that while there will be promotable volume of conventional grapes from the San Joaquin Valley around July 15, there won’t be sufficient volume to create promotable pricing on the organic side until later in the month. 

Rob Spinelli of Anthony Vineyards

“We have some early organic vineyards and so we are going to have good supplies five to 10 days sooner than anyone else,” he said.  “But by the time the other organic shippers get into the deal and there are promotable supplies throughout the industry, it’s going to be the week of July 23…and maybe even late that week.  Once we get going it’s going to run and gun from there on out.”

Spinelli said that scenario will play out for both organic and conventional grapes, and on many different varieties in red, black and green.

Concurring with that assessment was Chance Kirk of Vincent B. Zaninovich & Sons, Delano, CA.  While both Mexico and Coachella had weather and cultural issues that hampered production, he said the San Joaquin Valley had perfect conditions for grape growing this spring and summer.  “There is a bumper, high quality crop in the valley and there has been a sizable bump in organic production.  We have more organics than we have ever had before with one million cartons,” he said.

Packaged grapes from VBZ.

VBZ is expected to get started with its organic production next week, with promotable volume later in the month.  Kirk said there will not be an actual gap in supplies between the spring deals and the summer crop, but he said very hot weather in the Coachella Valley is limiting organic supplies at the end of the deal.  “We are still picking down there,” he said on June 27, “but we have been dealing with 114 degree days since last week.”

Those temperatures are not good for the fruit or the laborers, causing abbreviated picking schedules. In contrast, the first week of July in the Bakersfield grape-growing region is rarely expected to surpass 100 degrees, with the 4^th of July forecast to be a relatively “chilly” 94 degrees.

For the last week of June, conventional grapes prices from Mexico were in the low to mid-$20s, while Coachella’s production was trading from the mid to high-$20s.  Organic grapes were commanding a much higher price as the USDA’s Organic Summary for specialty crops revealed that organic grapes from Mexico were selling in California wholesale markets for about $32, while Coachella’s organic grapes were returning $42 to $46 per 18-pound carton.