According to figures collected by PTAB, the California’s 2023 processing tomato harvest tonnage for the week thirteen (ending October 7th) is estimated to deliver 808,475 t (metric tonnes) (891,191 short tons) to the factories.
Week fourteen (ending October 14th) is estimated to be 902,868 t (995,242 short tons) which would bring the year-to-date total to an estimated 10,214,664 t (11,259,740 short tons).
For actual tonnes delivered (8.503 million t) through week twelve, California is tracking above (+3.9%) the five year average (8.185 million t).
Data collected by PTAB for week eleven (ending September 23) show that YTD solids amounted to 5.20 compared to 5.29 for the same time period in the 2022 season or 0.09 lower. There were 373,276 loads delivered as of September 23, 2023, or 8,093 more than in 2022 for the same time period.
The 2023 California Organic processing tomato deliveries for the week twelve (ending September 30th) were 18,485 t (30,378 short tons). The total tons YTD for week twelve is 561,022 t (618,421 short tons), or 6.6% of the actual total delivered quantities.
The current total is currently the second largest in the history of California organic production. Provisional total is 22% higher than the final amount harvested in 2022 and 18% higher than the average quantity processed during past three seasons at this time.
If the weekly projections come true, the projected quantities on October 14 would represent approximately 94% of the California processors' target (10.89 million t).
However, according to the latest comment by MorningStar, “To reach this target, California processors must maintain a production of 1 million short tons per week for the first three weeks of October before reducing to half capacity in the final week. Given the past five years, achieving this would be unprecedented and requires ideal weather conditions and flawless supply chain execution.”
Some complementary data
Sources: PTAB, CLFP, MorningStar
