Refresco Cancellation Leaves Pennsylvania Farmer With 1,600 Tons of Rotting Grapes as Juice Sales Fall 30%
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 4
Refresco Cancellation Leaves Pennsylvania Farmer With 1,600 Tons of Rotting Grapes as Juice Sales Fall 30%
1 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 4
Summary
1,600 tons of concord grapes on Mark Terrell’s 200-acre Pennsylvania vineyard are set to rot after Refresco canceled contracts with him and about 125 growers in northwest Pennsylvania and western New York.
Refresco said the cuts followed a review of inventory, demand and long-term supply needs, and said concord grape juice sales have fallen 30% over the past decade amid broader declines in juice and wine consumption.
Terrell, who once received $430 a ton, has already laid off two workers and says public picking or state aid cannot absorb a crop that must be processed within eight hours of harvest.
$500,000 from Pennsylvania will buy 350 tons for food banks, and USDA will purchase $20 million in surplus grape juice, but growers say those steps do not solve the fruit now dying on the vines.
About 500 grape farms between Erie and Buffalo now face pressure to rip out vineyards, sell land or find new uses for grapes in a region where the crop has long anchored local identity and jobs.