For week twelve ending September 18th, Westconfoods’ figures based on PTAB information estimate 699,167 metric tonnes (mT) (770,700 short tons, sT) will have been delivered to the factories; another 721,717 mT (795,557 sT) are estimated to be harvested in week thirteen which ends September 25th. Provisional total (8,211,345 mT) at this date would still be almost 14% lower than the average quantity processed during past three seasons at this time (9,538,205 mT).
According to the latest comment published by WestConFoods, “it’s very unlikely that the industry will achieve the USDA’s 11.1 million short ton estimate. [...] The weekly tonnage continues to come in less than estimated. Westcon Foods now expects a more achievable result of 10,600,000 compared to the estimate of 11,100,000 tonnes.”
The 2021 California Organic processing tomato deliveries for the eleventh week ending September 11th were 17,883 mT (19,715 sT). The total tons YTD for week ending September 11th is 544,215 mT (599,894 sT), or 8.0% of the total delivered quantities. This is the second largest crop on record at this point in the season, some 6% behind of the first one which occurred in 2016 and led to the total of 668,,428 mT. Provisional total is 20% higher than in 2020 on the same date and 34% higher than the average quantity processed during past three seasons at this time.
PTAB figures for week ending September 11 state that 294,930 loads were delivered to date (16,888 less loads delivered in 2021 than in 2020), of which 55% were delivered in the Southern region (and 29% in the North), with YTD solids reaching 5.31 compared to 5.30 for the same time period in the 2020 season, or 0.01 lower.
Taking the current figures into consideration, quantities being harvested will bring the provisional processed total close to 82% of the new official target of the season (10.07 million mT or 11.1 million sT).
Source: Westcon Foods, PTAB
