The supply of watermelon from the southeast looks to be plentiful for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. This is even though the supply of watermelon from south Florida was slow to start.
"They're a bit behind because they had a cooler winter than last year, so they're probably about a week to a week and a half late," says Matt Solana, VP of operations/supply chain with the Jackson Farming Company, adding that last weekend's rain also slowed harvesting. That said, for the holiday weekend, more supply is expected from central Florida and North Florida–which planted a bit earlier this year. "North Florida may start a week earlier than they did a year ago."
Meanwhile, another growing region, North Carolina, is now experiencing the rain that Florida had and it too is running about seven days behind compared to last year. North Carolina planted its first sets in mid-April and its season will run from about July 1-mid-September. "Some folks planted later in parts of North Carolina because there was so much in North Florida and Georgia, so they could avoid any overproduction from those states for July 4th," says Solana. "We planted for July 1st but others have planted more towards mid-July."
This is all happening as offshore supply is finishing up with Mexico–through Texas– slowing down shipping now.
Transitioning from offshore
As for the movement of watermelon, it's as expected. "You're transitioning from offshore and offshore was a bit later this year so they still have product coming in along with the Florida product getting started. That flooded the market on the front part of the deal," says Solana.
On movement, seeded watermelons is a variety that is seeing a resurgence in popularity with consumers. "It used to be a very big item in the south and it's come roaring back. We're underserved on the seeded side of the market currently so we've added acreage on seeded in North Carolina simply because of the demand," he says, noting that it could be the taste bringing consumers back to seeded watermelon.
While current pricing may be slightly prohibitive in today's economic environment, prices are on track for this time of the year. "The market is starting to drop somewhat in South Florida anyway, and then with more production coming in towards Memorial Day, it'll probably balance out about where it was last year," says Solana.
For more information:
Matt Solana
Jackson Farming Company
www.jfcmelons.com