Riveridge enjoying strong apple year
Riveridge enjoying strong apple year
Apple marketing in "the Pacific Northwest will have an impact" on Michigan apple shippers this winter, according to Don Armock, president and partner at Riveridge Produce Marketing, Inc.
Of course, apple shippers in the United States compete with one another for market share, but Washington, Michigan and other states have large crops to move this winter, and the export markets, notably Mexico, that are important for Washington are in question.
Don Armock A West Coast dock strike and strong dollar are also discouraging apple exports. In good news, the Chinese market appears to be opening to U.S. apples.
Armock said Michigan apple orchards in 2014 had "a fine, vintage year because it was so cool in the summer." The cool weather didn't produce the size that is normally expected but there are plenty of medium and large-size Michigan apples. Michigan's crop didn't meet the 30-million bushel volume the 2013 crop did, but still produced 25 to 26 million bushels.
The fruit quality was so high that "it packs like a bigger crop, with great color," he said.
Honey Crisp and Jonagold are typically Michigan's largest-sized apples, and those varieties bore extra-large sizes in 2014. "But for the most part, we had mediums and large," Armock said. "The medium-sized apples will fill many poly bags this winter, which is good business for Michigan.
Armock said his firm, which is located in Sparta, MI, shipped its season's last Honeycrisp on Dec. 17. Riveridge shipped more 2014 Honeycrisp apples than it did the previous year.
Honeycrisp "quality was great this year and we had great support from our customers. It was never above 90 degrees once the bloom was on, and we usually have a dozen days over 90." The cooler weather created "great internal quality," which gave consumers an apple with a long shelf life.
Market prices are "definitely cheaper than last year," Armock said. But he sees the positive side of the pricing being that "retailers are pretty aggressively promoting. We need to assure they have the pricing to move the crop. Retailers need prices to move it to consumers and so far, nationwide, they are moving a big crop."
Armock expects Riveridge to be packing its storage apples into late July.