Product Report - David Stevenson

Lemons

While it comes as no surprise that Meyer supply has been limited and sporadic throughout the month of January, Yen Ben supply has also tapered off over the past month.  The weather has been warm and humid of late and that provides ideal conditions to boost insect numbers. Insect control has been a priority over harvesting in order to protect the next fruit set. I anticipate the next wave of Yen Ben to be harvested in early February and we will be de-greening small parcels of fruit in order to fill some of the gaps in supply (provided of course that enough size and the correct colour profile have been achieved).

As most of the major retailers are currently engaged with their import programs and with no issues with supply to report at present, wholesale pricing for NZ lemons as for the most part has remained on par with imports. That said some imports are starting to look pretty “tired” on the shelf and this may well signal a lift in demand for local fruit.

Encore Mandarins

Encore sales have remained consistently strong since the Xmas/New Year’s break and at times we have struggled to keep up with all of our customers’ requirements despite competition from summer fruit currently available in the market place.

We are however starting to experience some quality issues which can probably be attributed to very high brix levels and thinner rind that is common toward the end of the season. It is important therefore that growers take extra care when harvesting to minimise the instance of physical damage (which can be tricky to detect at the time of packing) in order to prolong shelf life as much as possible.  We will be looking for more fruit over the coming weeks so be sure to keep in contact with your harvest intentions so that we can best manage the flow of fruit through the pack house.