Organic Apple Price in Response to Crop Size Supplied to the Market

In this analysis, we study the organic apple price response to crop size supplied to the market. We use the sales data from November 10, 2003 to September 8, 2005, organized by the Wenatchee Valley Traffic Association, the most complete dataset available for WA apples. The apples are from both Wenatchee and Yakima, and the five biggest varieties, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Gala, and Granny Smith, are analyzed, while the other varieties do not have enough data for the analysis. During this period, the low grade apples (US Extra Fancy or lower) sold to market account for about 3.3% in volume and 2.6% in value. The crops sizes have a negative impact on prices generally. Especially, the crop size of the lower grade apples can have a negative impact on the price of higher grade apples for all varieties except Gala and Red Delicious, for which the impact is insignificant. However, based on the market elasticities, only Golden Delicious will benefit from a higher sales value if the lower grade apples are removed from the market, assuming zero cull values for these fruits. The sales gain will be less than $10,000 over all.