California Prune Board sees high-quality fruit in short crop year for 2020 harvest
The California Prune harvest wrapped up on schedule this year and growers have worked through the challenges of wildfires and market disruptions caused by the pandemic to harvest premium quality fruit consisting of an optimum range of sizes, setting up excellent opportunities to market the sweet, larger prunes for which California is famous. With early industry projections of a short crop, growers and handlers can now estimate production of 45,000 metric tons (50,000 short tons) of California Prunes, a decrease of 37 percent from the previous year. Combined with the carry-in from 2019, handlers should have sufficient supply for the new selling season.
As markets globally adjust to a “new normal” the California Prune industry remains focused on maintaining balance of supply and demand and reliably delivering the premium fruit that the world expects. Prune growers in California play an essential role in producing a premium product that offers health benefits, great taste, versatility, and shelf stability, all vital to what consumers desire in the current environment.