Blueberries have dropped off from the week prior, and we are expected to be moving down towards the lull before the Rabbiteye crop. Strawberries have continued to bounce up and will continue this trajectory for the next few months. However, it’s a very different supply curve to 2023. Raspberries have also bounced up week on week, but our grower group are ahead of the production curve with another +50% increase in weekly production. Blackberries dropped back week on week again to the same volume 3 weeks ago.
The total berry category has trended down week on week due to blueberries and blackberries coming off larger volumes and raspberries and strawberries not being able to supplement the difference.
Coffs Coast NSW—We’re now seeing the last of the 1111s from the region, and most continue to prune. The additional volume in the market is from Arana, as they peak over the next few weeks. The weather for this week looks stable, with warm nights and well above the median for this time of the year. However, maximum temperatures (outside of today) align with historical medians. Next week, (at this stage), is forecast to be wet most days; we will be watching this closely over the next week as it will change. We are seeing pressure from storms multiple times a week and I expect this to continue across the whole of Northern NSW. Hail has also been seen across the region, but no damage has yet been reported.
Victoria Blueberry Growing Regions – Like Northern NSW, we are seeing nighttime temperatures well above historical medians, and this will continue for the whole month. First commercial harvests will commence on some farms, with others just a few weeks behind. Farms are experiencing good berry-growing weather, which looks to continue for the next couple of weeks as the season starts to ramp up.
WA Blueberry Production—Volumes moved up for both Standard (industry) and Eureka in Coles last week. Eureka hit a record for units sold in the state for the week and Standard also achieved the highest number of units for the last 52 weeks. Southern production is ramping up, so we expect this volume to increase over the next 2 weeks. We will also look to move stock from West to East to assist in meeting the demand. After extreme temps in the North of Perth, we are seeing much kinder growing and harvesting conditions with a return to maximum temperatures of the low 20s and minimum temperatures in the mid-teens range. In Southwest WA, we are expecting great growing conditions with maximums of 17-22 across the week and a minimum of 5-11 degrees, which will continue to see great fruit production.
Strawberries – As noted last week, we are seeing volume that has not been factored into retailer off-location space, and to keep up with volume, retailers are having to use price. To give you an example, in July, for a similar amount of volume, we achieved $5 retail for a 250g punnet; however, as we move into summer with competition from Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Mangoes and grapes, we are seeing a very different landscape. I expect that display space will open up for Strawberries in the coming week/s, but it will continue to be a struggle in the next couple of weeks as we see it settle. WA Southern Production will move sideways in the coming weeks as we see growers either starting their first flush or in between. Volume from the north of Perth has slowed up enough for retailers to be mostly taking fruit from the South West in the coming week. This is indicated by Aldi changing from 15 units per tray to 16, aligning with the style of punnets coming from this region. Fruit from this region has been outstanding in the last few weeks.
Raspberries – Volume across the country increased week on week; however, as noted above, the MB growing group are leading the charge to the start of the summer season. We are seeing price decreases as we move more volume. Demand will take a few days to pick up in-store as prices will be reflected on a shelf on Wednesday. We are also expecting NSW to transition to 170g starting next week. We are currently seeing some good quality come through the warehouse, with isolated issues mostly with sooty mould. With relatively good growing conditions this week, we expect volumes to increase again (from our group), and the market will increase in line with our growers. As of this week, all growers are harvesting.
Blackberries—Volume has decreased over the week, and we are now at 66% of where we were 2 weeks ago. We expect this to flatten out in the coming weeks with more consistent production. In the short term, Blackberries are still over-indexing on space, however, with more Raspberry production coming online, we can expect this to transition in the coming week.
