Prune industry in ‘healthy position’ heading into harvest

Prune growers across the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys say this year’s crop has benefited from an extended bloom.

With an estimated 75,000 tons in volume for the 2021 crop, prune growers are expecting a busy harvest for a crop that over the course of the pandemic has seen demand accelerated.

“Stable weather conditions and a steady supply have put the California prune industry in a healthy position,” said Donn Zea, executive director for the California Prune Board, in a press release. “We are hitting an equilibrium in acreage and supply due in part to the carryover that California maintains each year to provide customers with a high-quality, healthy product when it matters most.”

California is the world’s largest supplier of prunes providing a range of premium sizes to meet demand in the U.S. and key export markets.

“Providing a reliable supply each year is a priority across the industry,” Zea said in a press release. “With over 100 years of experience growing prunes, we’ve found our way through many challenges, but we’ve never taken our eye off the ball.”

Each year, the California prune industry generates more than $717 million in annual economic impact flowing into the state economy creating and sustaining more than 7,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

The California Prune Board was created in

1952 and aims to amplify positioning and awareness of the state’s prune industry through advertising, public relations, promotion, nutrition research, crop management and sustainability research, and issue management.

The board represents approximately 800 prune growers and 28 prune, juice, and ingredient handlers under the authority of the California Secretary of Food and Agriculture.