Many apple companies have struggled with rising fuel costs and the federal mandate for electronic logging devices.
As a result, Sally Symms, vice president of sales and marketing for Symms Fruit Ranch Inc. in Caldwell, ID, says, “There were less trucks available and they weren’t able to make trips in the same amount of time.”
“When we could, we’d slow down production a bit, but that’s not sustainable,” she says.
Instead, she says the company worked out schedules with truckers who wanted reliable work.
The threat of tariffs and trade tensions, too, has had a dampening effect on the industry. The U.S. Apple Association cites China as an example.
The apple industry didn’t achieve full access to the Chinese market until 2015. Since then, apple exports have grown to 2.5 million boxes a year and China is now the industry’s sixth largest export market. Now, with stiff Chinese tariffs in place on U.S. agriculture products, apple exporters are feeling the pain.
“It remains to be seen if that’s going to hurt fruit growers,” says Phil Schwallier of Schwallier’s Country Basket in Sparta, MI, “We don’t like the sound of it.”
Apples sold in domestic markets can bring depressed prices.
“It’s really important for the apple industry to have free and open trade and not to have fights among countries over trade,” says Brenda Briggs, vice president of sales and marketing for Rice Fruit Company in Gardners, PA.
Despite the ups and downs and setbacks, most still believe this season will be a good one, and that dealing in apples has far more positives than negatives.
Roger Pepperl, marketing director for Stemilt Growers LLC in Wenatchee, WA, believes the industry’s future is promising, even if adapting to change is difficult.
“I think the future is bright. We’re an industry that’s going through a transition now and that’s causing a little pain, but we’re going to come out better in the end.”
This is an excerpt from the most recent Produce Blueprints quarterly journal. Click here to read the full article.
