Agronometrics in Charts: Shifting Trends in California’s Table Grape Industry

In this installment of the ‘Agronometrics In Charts’ series, Sarah Ilyas studies the state of the California table grape season. Each week the series looks at a different horticultural commodity, focusing on a specific origin or topic visualizing the market factors that are driving change.

California continues to dominate the U.S. grape industry, producing approximately 94 percent of the nation’s crop, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). However, the state’s grape-bearing acreage has been experiencing a gradual decline, marking a fifth consecutive year of reduction in 2023. 

In 2023, table-type grape acreage was estimated at 125,000 acres, a decrease of 2,000 acres from the previous year. The bearing acreage, which refers to the area actively producing grapes, stood at 120,000 acres, representing 96 percent of the total acreage. The Flame Seedless variety, a prominent early-season red seedless grape, remains the leading table-type grape in California, with 12,139 acres planted.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.

(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.

(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

Other popular table-type grape varieties include Scarlet Royal, a mid-season red seedless grape with 6,417 acres, and Autumn King, a late-season white seedless grape with 6,413 acres. These varieties contribute significantly to the diversity and quality of California’s table grape offerings.

A notable trend in the table grape market is the increasing share of imports in the U.S. supply. In the 2023/24 marketing year, fresh grape imports reached a record high of 1.75 billion pounds, surpassing the previous record of 1.64 billion pounds set in 2022/23. For the first time, imported grapes accounted for 63 percent of the U.S. fresh table grape supply, exceeding domestic production. Chile, which had been the leading supplier of fresh grapes to the United States since the 1989/90 season, reclaimed its top spot in 2023/24, with 62 percent of its exports destined for the U.S. market. This marks a notable increase from the 50 percent average over the past three years.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.

(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

The increase in imports is partly due to declining planted acreage in Chile, where small growers have faced challenges from low prices for older varieties and competition from other suppliers. As a result, some have shifted to more profitable crops like walnuts, cherries, or citrus. In contrast, Peru has seen growth in both acreage and production of fresh table grapes, with an increasing share of exports directed to the U.S.

The 2024 table grape season in California began in May in the Coachella Valley and will continue into Central California through mid-summer. Early estimates from the California Table Grape Commission suggest that production for the year will be slightly lower than the average from 2020 to 2022 but higher than the 2023 season, which was adversely affected by Hurricane Hilary. The hurricane’s impact led to the lowest fresh-market grape production since the 1987/88 season, as excessive rain damaged the crop by causing grapes to crack, drop, or develop mildew.

In our ‘In Charts’ series, we work to tell some of the stories that are moving the industry. Feel free to take a look at the other articles by clicking here.

All pricing for domestic US produce represents the spot market at Shipping Point (i.e. packing house/climate controlled warehouse, etc.). For imported fruit, the pricing data represents the spot market at Port of Entry.

You can keep track of the markets daily through Agronometrics, a data visualization tool built to help the industry make sense of the huge amounts of data that professionals need to access to make informed decisions. If you found the information and the charts from this article useful, feel free to visit us at www.agronometrics.com where you can easily access these same graphs, or explore the other 21 commodities we currently track.

Written by Sarah Ilyas