Fresh Fruit Portal: “Sonoran grapes hit fast crescendo” (6/16/2023)
On June 1, Mexican grape shipper Divine Flavor LLC, indicated a huge cold weather-induced gap between its early Jalisco grape deal and the traditional high-volume shipping of Sonora. Prices had been historically high because of unprecedented low supplies.
Grape industry icon John Pandol, Pandol Bros., Delano, CA, on June 16 told FreshFruitPortal.com that he did a Chicago supermarket tuor June 7-8. While some stores had strong grape displays, and Aldi’s apparently made Mexican grapes a loss leader, with prices at $1.49 or $1.99 per pound. He speculates that FOB prices were so high that the empty shelves were attributable to those stores refusing to pay to have grapes in their stores. In Tucson, AZ, on June 11, Pandol also found a retail store with no grapes on display.
