Texas Peach Handbook

Chapter 14: Marketing

T he fact that we live in a global economy is nowhere more evident than in the produce section of a grocery store. Like many other kinds of fruit, peaches are commercially grown in both the northern and southern hemispheres, resulting in the availability of fresh peaches in every month of the year. In the southern hemisphere, reduced labor costs allow for production and shipping to distant markets that would be impossible on this side of the equator. Even in North America there are a number of states where peaches are grown on a much larger scale than in Texas, where productivity is far more consistent, and where costs or economies of scale are far superior to local conditions. Often peaches can be bought in the grocery store for near or even below the cost to produce them in Texas orchards. So what do we have to offer the consumer? The answer is quality. Peaches that are grown in distant locations must be harvested much earlier in the ripening process in order to maintain the needed firmness to arrive at the market unbruised.While their shape and color may be appealing, flavor and eating quality will be greatly inferior to those of a fruit that has remained on the tree longer and has been harvested at a more advanced stage of maturity. As noted, peaches are a “climacteric” fruit, which means that starches can continue to ripen into sugars after picking, but the amount of organic acids or what we perceive as flavor does not increase after harvest. Harvested fruit with no planned market usually results in discarded fruit or produce sold at less than ideal prices. In many ways, growing is the easy part of peach production. Every successful peach operation is a direct result of a successful marketing scheme. Chapter 14 Marketing 132 Wholesale Marketing Many growers with 40 or more acres of peaches find that they simply cannot sell all of their production in a local roadside market. Wholesale marketing means that by definition, some other person collects the retail markup when the fruit is finally sold to the consumer.While a number of growers make good profits with this marketing strategy , the wholesale marketplace can be competitive and demanding. If a buyer inspects a single box and finds any fruit that should have been culled, the entire load may be rejected. Prices are also extremely volatile,and dumping of fruit on the market from out-of-state sources may cause previously“agreed upon” prices to fall drastically. Remember, people buy fruit with their eyes. Fruit should be large, well colored, and free of blemishes. The investment in timely fruit thinning will more than pay for itself in increased prices. Fruit must ฀Larger wholesale growers commonly have their own packing sheds with processing and storage facilities. ฀Wholesale growers typically pack fruit into 25-pound half bushel boxes. 133 Marketing be harvested while quite firm in order to be shipped, displayed, and sold before it becomes overly mature and soft. Growers usually wait until the background color starts to change from green to yellow as a gauge of maturity. Most varieties, if well exposed to sunlight, develop a pink or reddish blush on about half the surface of the peach. This effect of light exposure is another reason that canopy management is so very important. Fruit are typically picked into field lugs, then sorted, graded, and packaged into 25-pound half-bushel boxes. Many wholesale operations use automated grading tables that commonly have sizing, washing, and defuzzing operations. Choosing boxes that can be stacked and that will hold up to moisture condensation in cold storage is critical to continued successful marketing. Farmers’Markets Urban residents are increasingly recognizing the advantages of locally grown produce, from both quality and world impact perspectives, and more important, people are willing to pay for this. Because of this trend,many medium to large cities have organized farmers’markets to allow for local sale of produce directly to the consumer. Farmers’ markets are commonly governed jointly by the municipality and a board of directors, usually made up of farmers and consumers. Each market has its own rules, but generally they restrict sales to growers within a given distance from the market and require that vendors grow what they sell. Markets may also limit the number of growers who offer a specific crop. The problem for peach growers is that peach trees...