California table grape growers grossed a record $1.83 billion on their 2015 crop.
The industry shipped 109.3 million 19-pound box equivalents, which was the third-largest crop on record. The 2013 crop yielded the largest harvest at 117.4 million boxes, according to the California Table Grape Commission.
“Since the industry surpassed the 100 million box mark for the first time in its history in 2012, the total crop volume has seen three consecutive years over 110 million boxes,” said Kathleen Nave, president of the California Table Grape Commission.
Most of the crop is consumed in the U.S.
In 2015, 34.7 percent of the total volume was exported to over 50 countries around the world, with a total export volume of 37.9 million 19‐pound boxes valued at $737.8 million.
The top five volume export markets were:
Canada – 11.3 million boxes
Mexico – 5.7 million boxes
China/Hong Kong – 3.5 million boxes
Philippines – 1.9 million boxes
Taiwan – 1.8 million boxes
Grapes from California are available from May through January. With the 2016 season only about six weeks away, the commission is gearing up its global campaign for California grapes.
California is the leading producer of table grapes in the United States. In 2015 table grapes were harvested from about 110,000 acres of farmland predominantly in Kern, Tulare, Fresno, Riverside and Madera counties.
“The commission campaign focuses on motivating the trade to promote and consumers to buy more grapes from California more often,” said Nave.
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