Overall fruit volumes down, but ENZA and Oppenheimer anticipate good supplies
Overall fruit volumes down, but ENZA and Oppenheimer anticipate good supplies
Deliveries of New Zealand apple and pear varieties were already underway on both coasts in early May, and David Nelley, Oppenheimer's category director for pipfruit and pineapples, predicts a season of relatively short supply of fruit from the island nation overall compared to the past five years.
"Supplies are down considerably across the industry, but Oppenheimer will have strong volumes this year with category favorites like Royal Gala and Braeburn and rising stars like Jazz already in the market," he said.
"Catastrophic cold temperatures during flowering in the Hawke's Bay region were primarily to blame for a low yield of Braeburns from New Zealand, while the strength of the Euro has been drawing fruit from South America away from [North American] shores," Mr. Nelley said.
Oppenheimer will round out its apple category with arrivals of Fuji, Pacific Rose and Pacific Queen in mid-May, Mr. Nelley continued.
He added that Taylor's Gold and Comice pears were available in early May, and consumers can look forward to Bosc arrivals at the end of the month.
In addition to marketing the fresh crop, Oppenheimer and ENZA have several fresh promotions in the works for the season, including the sponsorship of a woman's beach volleyball duo from New Zealand. The pair will arrive in the United States in late July for a month-long match circuit in Southern California, and introduce new active lifestyle consumers to ENZA's healthy and delicious lineup of apples and pears.
"The new ENZA Beach Volleyball Team, like our continued sponsorship of the popular Jazz Apple Cycling Team from the last two summers, gives us the chance to interact with our target customer base and give them a taste of some new varieties they might not have tried before," said Mr. Nelley.
(For more on New Zealand fruit, see the May 19 issue of The Produce News.)
"Supplies are down considerably across the industry, but Oppenheimer will have strong volumes this year with category favorites like Royal Gala and Braeburn and rising stars like Jazz already in the market," he said.
"Catastrophic cold temperatures during flowering in the Hawke's Bay region were primarily to blame for a low yield of Braeburns from New Zealand, while the strength of the Euro has been drawing fruit from South America away from [North American] shores," Mr. Nelley said.
Oppenheimer will round out its apple category with arrivals of Fuji, Pacific Rose and Pacific Queen in mid-May, Mr. Nelley continued.
He added that Taylor's Gold and Comice pears were available in early May, and consumers can look forward to Bosc arrivals at the end of the month.
In addition to marketing the fresh crop, Oppenheimer and ENZA have several fresh promotions in the works for the season, including the sponsorship of a woman's beach volleyball duo from New Zealand. The pair will arrive in the United States in late July for a month-long match circuit in Southern California, and introduce new active lifestyle consumers to ENZA's healthy and delicious lineup of apples and pears.
"The new ENZA Beach Volleyball Team, like our continued sponsorship of the popular Jazz Apple Cycling Team from the last two summers, gives us the chance to interact with our target customer base and give them a taste of some new varieties they might not have tried before," said Mr. Nelley.
(For more on New Zealand fruit, see the May 19 issue of The Produce News.)
