NECTARINES

Nectarines are a stonefuit that are mainly grown in the state of California. The used to be sold fresh, and processed, but now are only sold fresh. In this paper, we will show you the production, harvest, packing, sales, and history of the nectarine. We will also feature a company that has been around since 1910. The nectarine industry is primary in the hands of these family businesses, and this is the only was these family’s know how to do it. The nectarine industry is very fascinating, and we were pleasured to do this commodity. Nectarine Production

This table from the USDA, depicts the California production of Nectarines from 1980 to 2006. It shows trends in the production and season average, which we tell you about later in the paper. It also shows the stoppage in processed nectarines in the year 2002.

Nectarine Farm Acreage This Table shows the annual cropland these commodities use across the United States. This shows that nectarines are staying very close to the same as the previous years. This chart shows the acerage since the year 1971, and how it increases for a while until it reached the bearing acres of 35,500. This number has been very stable from the year 1998 until present. This also shows that they did not get quite as much value per a ton in the past few years. The annual price has dropped in the year 2007. When looking at the nectarine commodity in the state of California, I was not able to find a map of where nectarines are grown most prevalently, but I was able to find the main counties where it is grown. The two major growing regions in California are the San Joaquin Valley (Fresno, Kings, Merced, Tulare, Kern, Madera, Stanislaus, San Joaquin Counties) and the Northern Region (Solano, Sutter, Yuba, Placer, Butte and El Dorado Counties). I estimate that there are about 69 different growers of nectarines in California. (California PPN) California is ideal for growing this stone fruit, with average maximum summer temperature of the San Joaquin County is about 93 degrees F and average winter minimums of 37 degrees F. Annual rainfall ranges from 18 total inches in the north to 10 inches in the south county. (profile of SJC) The average annual precipitation in the Northern California Region which includes Solano, Sutter, Yuba, placer, Butte, and El Dorado counties is 10-20 inches. The average temperature is 97 degrees F in the summer and 63 degrees F in the winter.

The packers in California were not specific on any website, but all of the packers are the growers themselves. There are really no processing plants. Theses businesses that are the growers and packers are subject to regulation under the orders covering nectarines and peaches grown in California.

Nectarines do have cooperatives. This is how most of the businesses produce and pack their product. The federal USDA is regulating the nectarine industry. It makes the rules and regulations for the entire commodity.

The current industry trends for the nectarine commodity is that Fruit Patch Sales Incorporated is installing a totally new and state of the art washing and waxing system to ensure the best possible shelf life of their fruit. This washing and waxing system extends not only the shelf life but also the appearance and image. This is very state of the art, and I believe will be very popular with other companies in the future.

The business that we chose to feature is Wes Pak Sales Incorporated, because of their long standing legacy, and their expertise from the long line of family. They are involved in the production and packing of our product. They are located in Dinuba, California.

Out of the 269,000 tons of nectarines that California yielded in 2007, all 269,000 tons were sold fresh. In the United States of the 14,000 other tons produced in the United States, all of that is sold fresh also. (Ag Statistics Board) The U.S. food marketing system connects the food produced on farms to the consumer who buys the food to eat, either fresh or processed. The three main parts of the marketing system is the manufacturing, wholesaling, and retailing. There are also many costs that go along with the marketing. These are the transportation, processing, and distribution of farm products. This is what figures into the major portion of food prices, with the farms contribution being the other piece of the price pie. There are also many other aspects which factor into the price of food. The packaging and transportation of the fruit are also an important and costly part of the distribution. Increasing oil prices mean higher production, processing, and transportation costs, which ultimately affects the food prices greatly. (USDA) California nectarines are available from May through September while imports are available from January through April. California produces over 95 percent of the nations nectarines and they are available from the months of May through September. In the offseason 99% of the imports that we get are of Chilean descent. We also do export a great number of our exports of nectarines. In the year 2004 we exported around $130 million in peaches and nectarines combined. While essentially all nectarine production is destined for the fresh market, peaches are marketed for both the fresh and processing uses. The total shipments of nectarines by district in the year 2007 were as follows; Kern County 655,067, Tulare 6,343,256, Fresno 13,889,171 Northern California, 6,363 Stanislaus/Stockton 37,819, Southern California 233,829. These packages were of many different assortments so they converted them to “25” lb. boxes.
The primary forms of transportation of nectarines is in the form of various types of packages. (32 % are 2-layer lugs)(44% are Volume Fill Lugs) The other six types are packages are all scatted relatively even, accounting to the missing 24%. The size distribution of the nectarines in terms of lug size is( 25.5% 40’s)(43.8% 50’s)(18% 60’s), the other 12.7% account for the other 6 sizes. According to AGRMC (agricultural marketing resource center) nectarines were valued at $313.5 per ton in 2004 and this number is down from $583.13 in 1995 which was one of the all time high’s. Average nectarine price data combines that of processed and fresh grower prices. Before 2004, the lowest price for nectarines was $314.7 per ton but in 2004 prices dropped even lower to $313.5 per ton (AGRMC). Although processed nectarine prices have always been much lower than those for fresh fruit, processing has made up a relatively small percentage of production and by 2002 all nectarine production was sold for fresh market uses. (USDA) The demand for fresh unprocessed nectarines is evident by the fact that since 2002 no companies produced any processed nectarines. (AGRMC) The consumers demand was strictly the fresh production of nectarines and so the supply was matched by only producing these fresh nectarines. The supply of nectarines comes entirely from the state of California. U.S. Fresh market production of peaches and nectarines has remained relatively stable over the last decade. In 2004 nectarine production totaled 546 million pounds Nectarine bearing acreage was roughly a fourth of peach bearing acreage at 36,500 acres (NASS)

The nectarine market is a very competitive one to say the least. There are about 40 different producers of Nectarines and Peaches (not enough sole nectarine producers to have its own category) in the United States. The United States is continually in the top 3 of peach and nectarine producers usually behind China and Italy. (FAS.USDA.GOV) Most of the nectarines we produce we also consume. Imports and exports are not a huge part of the peach/nectarine business, which is not the same for the Stone Fruit market on the whole. (ERS, NASS, USDA)

This table is from the USDA and depicts the food ability of the peach and nectarine industry. It depicts the availability of nectarines per year from 1970 to 2006. The Nectarine industry does have a marketing order as commissioned by the California Tree Fruit Marketing Program. What this does is define things which are legal and those that are illegal in the production and selling of nectarines. For instance this program states that - “[“Producer” and “Grower” are synonymous and mean any person engaged within the State of California in the business of growing peaches and/or nectarines for the fresh market by producing them or causing them to be produced and who has a proprietary interest therein.]” (cdfa.ca.gov) The point of marketing order within an industry is to allow the different industries to work together to solve marketing problems and also to balance the supply of quality product with the demand by costumers. (ams.usda.gov) Within the order there is a marketing board which assists the department in the administering of the program. (cdfa.ca.gov) No cooperatives exist for the Nectarine industry. There are no longer cooperatives in the stone fruit industry at all.
Wes Pak Sales Incorporated is the business that we will be featuring for the nectarine industry. They are involved in the production and packing of many stone fruits. Located in Dinuba California, the Enns family has been growing fresh California fruit for the past century. The location of their family farm has remained unchanged since 1910. From their first commercial packing house, built in 1948, they have expanded to three state-of-the-art packing facilities, eight pre-cool rooms, seven cold storage rooms and two certified fumigation chambers.(WesPak Sales)
In 1980, their business became fully integrated with the formation of WesPak Sales, Inc. Since WesPak’s inception, their goal to provide high-quality products and services to their customers, competitive returns to our growers, and profits to our owners in an ethical and honest manner has remained the same.(WesPak Sales) WesPak offers an expanded line of high-quality fresh fruits.
The Family business that has turned into a huge production has always been managed and run by the Enns Family themselves. Currently Melvin Enns is the General Manager. It doesn’t say how many workers are employees of Wes pack Sales, but this is a very large production and packing business. The have around 1.2 million dollars in sales every year.
Along with Melvin in the administrative section of Wes Pack, Eugene Enns is the Board Chairman, Ken Enns is the Chief Financial Officer, and Phil Herbig is the Accounting Manager.
The Sales Department Manager is Jim Stewart, while Rod Rosales is the Marketing Manager. Patty Denson is the Sales Representative. Jason Hanline is in charge of the Accounting and Sales Logistics while Sam Stewart is in charge of Quality Control and Sales Logistics. Louise Janzen is the Sales Assistant. In the Farms Department, Greg Feaver is the Farm Manager. Mark Laemmle is the Grower Services Manager, and Phillip Enns is the Sustainable Operations Manager. Tim Janzen is the Grower Representative. In the Packing Department, Fred Doerksen is the Packing House Manager. In the Physical Plant, Loren Enns is the Plant Manager. In the Cold storage and Shipping Department, John Stewart is the Cold Storage Manager. WesPak Sales is located in the central valley very near my home, I (Joel Mcknight) live in Bakersfield, and my father knows the Enns Family. This is one of the reasons why Joe and I chose to pick WesPak Sales as out business profile. Also, an interesting and very beneficial fact about WesPak is that they offer scholarships for high school students attending two- and four-year colleges. The Nectarine industry is a very steady stone fruit that is mainly grown in California. Most of the companies are family ran productions that have been handed down to sons, and grandsons for many years. WesPak Sales was very helpful when Joe and I talked with them, and overall we both learned that we would enjoy working with this commodity. There are plenty of places to get plugged in now that we have a good knowledge of the fruit. Our objective of this paper is to inform you on the Nectarine industry, and the production and processing that come along with it. I hope this term paper shows you how the nectarine industry works.

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