About three years ago, Pandol Bros. in Delano, CA, had a change in its Mexican grape program with the departure of one of its growers. That left the company with a lighter volume during the early part of the season. It became a problem, because since then, "we haven't been able to transition early enough" from southern hemisphere fruit into the Mexican deal, said John Pandol, a director at Pandol Bros.

This year, the situation has been corrected. "We have now rebuilt the grower base" and "replaced that volume in the pockets," allowing Pandol Bros. to make a smoother transition between deals. "For the stores that want to get in and stay with us, that is going to benefit them," Pandol said.

"Basically our early growers have beefed up our volume, so we will probably have the most balanced program we have had in a long time," he added.

This season, by the first week in May, "we should have four growers going" in Mexico, he said. The company has now somewhat reduced its volume for the second and third weeks of June and increased "the front end, the prior-to-Memorial-day part. Overall, I think that is going to help our program."

In terms of variety mix, Pandol Bros. will be offering the basic mainstream varieties grown in the Mexican deal. As with some other growers in Mexico, one of Pandol's growers has planted trials of other varieties. He has "signed on basically with every club he can get into" in order to do trial plantings of newer varieties to see what works, but none of it will be harvestable for the current season, he said.

As for this year's crop, "we will definitely tack early, and I think the latest guys are also tracking early, so I think it will both start early and end early," Pandol said. "In our case, this may be one year that we actually ship more grapes in May than we do in July," in terms of "actual ship date," not crossing date. Unlike past seasons, "we tend to think that most of the Mexican fruit should be available for the Fourth of July weekend business" or before. "After that it should be pretty much wrapped up."

Grapes in the San Joaquin Valley of California are also tracking early, he said. Grape growers in Mexico are "much less concerned about the front end than the back end" of the deal, because once the San Joaquin Valley comes into play, "it is very difficult for the [Mexican] desert grapes to compete, and they will basically have to resort to their domestic market earlier than they would normally plan, and with greater numbers than they would normally plan."

With regard to packaging, "I think you will see an increased migration" to polypropylene pouch-type bags and "away from the old polyethylene bags," which are largely made from recycled content and are "very cloudy," Pandol said. "I am from the school that it is simply the clarity of the plastic that is driving demand" for the new pouch bags. "Retailers say when they put that bag in the store, grapes seem to move quicker."

Initially, some customers wanted the bags with no graphics, to show the grapes better. At the other extreme, some graphic artists tended to cover the bags with graphics, and customers balked. "People say they want to see more fruit. Quit hiding it."

The pendulum swing now seems to be "settling down" to something in between. With few exceptions, retailers now seem to want bags with "some graphics," but not so much that it hides the grapes, he said. That also seems to be the consumer preference.