In early July, John Pandol of Pandol Bros. Inc., in Delano, CA, marveled at one of the smoothest transitions he has ever seen as the grape harvest moved from Mexico and the Southern California desert to the San Joaquin Valley.

Despite the Mexican deal having much more volume than anticipated when the harvest began in the Bakersfield area in late June, Pandol said “we’ve had very robust demand.  There was an overlap (between Mexican and Coachella production and that of the San Joaquin Valley), but it was not problematic.”

Moving forward this summer, the Pandol Bros. director of special projects said retailers should be in constant contact with their suppliers on the timing of the deal.  “Each of the varieties appear to be coming on a full 10 days to two weeks earlier than normal. Sugar Crunch, which usually comes on in August, looks like it will be ready in late July.  And Sweet Celebration, which is a September variety, might be an August deal this year.”

Pandol said when the timing of the varieties is off this much, it can be a challenge to time promotions to coincide with the peak of the deals. Many retailers have their promotions slotted to specific weeks and it is a bit more difficult to switch those dates.  Though this early timing has occurred two years in a row, he is not ready to call it a trend.  “We’ve had about 90 days of temperatures two to three degrees warmer than usual.  The plants respond to accumulated heat.  They don’t look at wall calendars.  Some alarmists are talking about changing weather patterns but if you look back 40-50 years, we have had early crops many times. I don’t think this is a ‘new normal.’”

He believes technological advances — like earlier producing varieties — are what typically create “new normal.”  In Pandol’s many years in the industry he has seen a shift in timing among the districts.  “Arvin used to start and finish before Delano started.  That’s no longer the case.  There are vineyards in Fresno that start as early as those in Arvin.  It’s all about what variety is planted.”

Varietal shifts have been constant and have changed tremendously. “Thompson Seedless use to have about 30 percent of the acreage, now it’s down to 3 percent and dropping.”

Pandol said varieties are very important to the grower but not so much to consumers.  They want green seedless or red seedless.  They care about the color of the grape and how bright it is, but not its varietal name.  He thinks that’s a good thing.  He noted that the blueberry industry, which is experiencing skyrocketing demand, has introduced scores of new varieties in the last decade, but the consumer is none the wiser.  A blueberry is a blueberry as far as they are concerned.  The same with strawberries, he said.  

Pandol said there are many new grape varieties — both in the public domain and from private breeders — that have gained favor among growers.  But instead of a few varieties dominating with 10 million carton or more each, there are 10 varieties or so with a few million cartons each year.  Each offers advantages to a grower based on the location of their land and the microclimate they enjoy.  

Speaking of microclimates, the longtime California weather observer said the industry should not expect that it will have a harvest reaching well into December again this year.  Four years of drought with little fall rain has meant the crop has lasted deeper in the calendar year.  “When we get a lot of fall rain, harvesting in December is an iffy proposition.  We are due one (a rainy year) and we need one, so don’t be surprised if we get one this year and we don’t have fruit as late.”

But Pandol said that is the fresh produce industry, where variability and flexibility remain king.