Raisins
Asia is the most important export market for California raisins. Europe is declining rapidly as a key buyer of California raisins. For Europe, Turkish and South African raisins have become increasingly preferred versus California raisins.
With the rise of Aldi and other discount grocery chains in Europe has come heightened cost competitiveness. With pricing always top of mind, many European buyers are hard-pressed to choose premium California raisins over cheaper product from Turkey, South Africa, and Chile. In addition to the cost advantages of these alternative origins, shorter transit times and lower freight costs make these origins even more attractive to European buyers.
In Asia, the appetite for California raisins is much stronger. Japan continues to be the world leader in California raisin purchases with an increasing share of the total California raisin export market. Japan’s share of the total California raisin export market excluding the U.S. and Canada increased from 30% in 2017 to 38% in 2018. As European buyers move away from sourcing raisins from California, other buyers in Asia are increasing their share of California raisin imports.
Imports of California raisins by the UK and Germany were stable for a number of years but have recently plummeted.
Japan, on the other hand, has rebounded to almost the same level as prior years.
Japan’s recovery is especially notable considering the smaller total available inventory versus prior years as widespread crop damage in 2018 led to a record-low carry-in for 2019. After Japan, the strongest and most stable markets in Asia are China, Taiwan, and South Korea.
While Europe looks for cheaper raisins from other origins, Asia is the rising star for California raisin packers. With growing populations and incomes, many developing markets in Asia are showing sustained increases in imports of California raisins. Indonesia and the Philippines are both growing markets for California raisins and are island nations with massive populations of 264 MM and 105 MM, respectively.
Global demand for California raisins remains high. No single origin is capable nor well suited to serving all raisin markets. We anticipate strong shipments to Asia after the conclusion of the Lunar New Year holidays.
We supply all major bulk California raisins including dried-on-the-vine (DOV) and tray-dried Natural Thompson Seedless Selects, Selma Petes, Flames, Goldens, and other varieties in Jumbo, Select, and Midget sizes and welcome your inquiries. We also supply Selma Pete DOV Double-Run Supreme raisins to Japan and elsewhere which are processed twice to achieve exceptionally low stem and capstem counts. We offer multiple packaging options including custom boxes with client branding, supplier branded boxes, and blank unbranded boxes.
Walnuts
With the in-shell season now nearly over, many California walnut packers are transitioning to kernel production. In the beginning of the season, there were widespread concerns due to trade wars between the U.S. and major in-shell walnut markets. Due to this uncertainty, both initial demand and initial prices were weaker than previous years. As prices went lower -- within a very short amount of time -- buyers seized the opportunity, and booked almost all of the available tonnage of in-shell California walnuts. Due to the purchasing wave, many suppliers across California are completely sold-out of Chandler in-shell walnuts and Chandler kernel. In this tightly supplied market, there will only be walnuts available on a limited basis depending on the supplier’s sold position.
We work with California’s top walnut packers to supply our customers with Jumbo and Jumbo / Large (J/L) in-shell Chandler, Howard, Hartley, Vina, Tulare, Serr and other varieties. We also provide bleached in-shell walnuts in addition to California shelled product including Chandler and non-Chandler Light Halves & Pieces (LHP) 20%, 40%, 80% and higher based on customer requirements. We also supply Combo Halves and Pieces (CHP).
Cranberries
China is a growing market for sweetened dried cranberries (SDCs). During the Chinese New Year, the color red is especially prized for good luck and success in the new year.
We supply Conventional and Organic Whole or Sliced Sweetened Dried Cranberries (SDCs) packed in bulk cases as well as Organic Apple Juice Sweetened varieties. We also work with quarter inch diced and other diced cranberry products available as per client requirement. In addition, we supply 50 Brix and 65 Brix cranberry concentrate shipped in bulk 55 gallon drums.
OTHER PRODUCTS
We work with a number of other products so please reach out if you have an inquiry for something you do not see here. We are experts in sourcing bulk food ingredients and welcome the opportunity to work with you on your inquiries. Some of our other product offerings include sunflower seeds, lentils, green peas, freeze dried fruits, popcorn, dried cherries, dried apples, dried blueberries, cherry concentrate, quinoa, dried honey dates, dried cherry tomatoes, dried gojis, dried kiwis, dried strawberries, chickpeas, chia seeds, dried mulberries, almonds, macadamias, pistachios, walnuts, cashews, pine nuts, pecans, brazil nuts, pumpkin seed kernels, melon kernels, hazelnuts, dried prunes, golden raisins, sultanas, dried apricots, sweet apricot kernels, dried black currants, dried figs, dried dates, popcorns, maraschino cherries, dried tomatoes, strawberry pie filling, blueberry pie filling, cherry pie filling, dried mangoes, dried gingers, dried pineapple, and desiccated coconut.
WORK WITH US AS A SUPPLIER
We are always looking to grow our supplier base with companies capable of delivering high quality food ingredients at large volumes. If you are interested, please reach out and introduce yourself.