Crop Report

The wet weather continues to affect the harvest of the late season brassica crop. It is impacting both the ability of growers to harvest and the quality of the crop. We are monitoring quality closely to maintain standards, with some rejections for the product yellowing at the end of last week.

We continue to manage supply well despite the market-wide availability issues, with only some minor issues to date. However, supply is extremely tight.

We are working with suppliers on plans for the transition to Spain, and are hopeful that the first, limited volumes will be available shortly. 

There are some concessions in place as we work to minimise the impact of the poor weather conditions earlier in the year on the end of season South African crops.

We have size concessions on medium oranges and prepack lemons. Taking these proactive steps should allow us to manage supply until the arrival of the Spanish season in November.

We are also maintaining supply of South African easy peelers for a few more weeks, as the Spanish Satsuma variety is giving some indifferent early season quality. These South African Nardocott easy peelers are a better quality product, albeit that we have a small size concession to maintain availability.

While availability is improving, there are still a significant number of potatoes that remain to be lifted.  

With the anticipated better weather at the end of the week, we expect growers to resume the harvest.

In the coming weeks, as the majority of the crop is lifted, we will be able to provide a fuller report on the season’s outlook, although the indications are that the crop looks similar to this year.

We are working with suppliers as the cold and wet weather continues to impact the quality and quantity of British fruit.

In order to address some of the issues, we have increased the level of imports more than had been planned. We are expecting the anticipated improvement in the British weather at the end of this week to lead to an improvement in availability, albeit we will continue to focus on the transition to Europe.

There are no availability issues on green grapes, but we are seeing some quality issues as a result of the extreme summer temperatures in southern Europe. This has led to a slight discolouration that is not impacting quality or taste, but has required a concession for colour.

We are only a few weeks away from moving to Peruvian products in early November, after which the concession will be removed. 

We are working with suppliers to minimise the weather-related challenges on sweetheart cabbage. Although we have managed to maintain supply with only minimal issues, this continues to cause availability problems across the industry. 

We are working with suppliers on plans for the transition to Spain, which will begin shortly. 

The cold and wet weather has slowed the growth of the crop, particularly impacting iceberg lettuce, where size remains small, but weight is within specification. 

We are managing the lack of availability by increasing Spanish product and sourcing additional supplies. 

We have seen an increase in rejections of prepped leaf due to excessive water caused by the wet conditions. This is being closely monitored and the warmer weather forecast is likely to help. 

We are anticipating the first arrivals of Spanish prepped leaf next week. This will be the second cut for baby leaf, which generally means a better quality product.

With the anticipated increase in temperatures at the end of this week and into next, we are working with our supplier to put additional checks in place. There are some concerns that the arrival of hot weather could cause flowering, but we are hoping that the additional quality controls will address any potential issues.

Cauliflower growth is slowing as the recent lower temperatures impact the crop. However, we continue to manage demand well in a tight market. The health of the ongoing crop will be dependent on the upcoming weather.

The British CauliShoots season continues to end strongly, and we are seeing excellent end of season availability. The Spanish season remains slightly behind schedule and growers are working to accelerate the growth of the plants to try to bridge the gap.