One of the greatest things to look forward to during summer is all of the delicious stone fruit, with peaches and nectarines being high up on that list! I recently had the opportunity to visit Simonian Fruit Company, which is a stone fruit operation in Fowler, CA, to get a behind the scenes view of their peach harvesting and packing operation.
Table of Contents
Where are Peaches Grown in California?
Peaches are grown in the Central Valley of California. The specific region is centered around the Kingsburg, California area.
When is Peach Season in California?
Peach season runs from April to October in California. It is filled with different peach cultivars that ripen throughout that five to six month window each year.
How do Peaches Grow?
Peaches grow on trees! In large growing operations, they grow in beautiful and strategically planted orchards. The actual fruit grows throughout the tree, but it is common that the fruit is thinned out (some of the fruit is removed) in order to allow more sun and nutrients to reach the rest of the fruit to help them reach their full size and flavor potential.
Peach Harvest & Packing
For a detailed overview of the entire peach harvesting and packing process, check out the video below! In it, you can see the full process from field to grocery store.
Peach Harvesting
Peaches are hand harvested into bags. They harvest the fruit while it is still firm, as peaches are climacteric and will continue ripening after harvest. Once the bags are full, they dump them into big bins that are lined up on a tractor in the field. There are multiple tractors that rotate in and out of the field, where when the bins on one tractor fill up, the tractor transfers the bins to the packinghouse, and there is another tractor in the field with empty bins that are ready to start loading.
Peach Packing
Once peaches arrive at the packinghouse, they are ran on the packing line the same day.
Each of the steps taken during the packinghouse are as follows with peaches.
- Bin Dump – The peach bins come straight in from the field and start on the packing line. They are mechanically lifted up onto the bin dump, where the peaches are dry dumped onto the packing line. There is no water involved during the initial dump.
- Wash Step – The fruit is rinsed using a single-pass system, where the fruit is drenched with a wash water containing sanitizer. Since the water is applied using a spray bar, the fruit is not submersed as it continues on the packing line.
- Hand Sort – The peaches are transferred onto the conveyor belt to be hand sorted for defects. The fruit that meets the quality standards continue down the conveyor belt. For the fruit that does not meet customer specifications, they are either sorted to go to a secondary market, or into a cull pile that is distributed to a nearby animal lot.
- Wax Application – A wax coating is applied as the fruit continues on the conveyor belt. (This is an optional step, depending on the peach packing house.)
- Labeling – The peaches are distributed to different “cups” based on the size of the fruit, and then are labelled according to their size. There are two rows of labels and depending on which size the fruit is, the correct labeler will label the fruit.
- Packing – The fruit continues on the cups until it reaches the lane that is packing that specific sized fruit and then drops, in order to go to the specific packing line. The packers do an additional quality check and discard the culls into the middle lane of the packing line and pack the fruit that meets the quality standards. Depending on the customer, the fruit is packed differently. The peaches are either packed into clamshells, on trays or into bulk boxes.
- Quality Control – The packed boxes are transferred on the conveyor belt for two additional quality checks: the first one to make sure the boxes are not over packed and the second one to check the weight of the boxes to make sure they meet customer requirements. If they do not weigh enough, additional fruit will be added.
- Palletization – The boxes are packed onto pallets.
- Cold Storage – The pallets go into cold storage, while waiting to be shipped.
Food Safety Considerations
For a peach harvesting and packing operation, some of the main food safety concerns are:
- Sanitation of the harvesting bags and bins – Cleaning and sanitizing of the bags and bins needs to occur on a regular and frequent basis. In this case, they are using bags that need to be laundered (differently from how you would clean a bin or harvesting bucket).
- Testing and changing of the wash water – The peaches are exposed to water during the packing process. The water is not recycled wash water, but there still needs to be a testing and policy in place and implemented.
- Worker hygiene – Since the harvesters are touching every peach they harvest during the harvesting process and the packers are sorting through the peaches during the hand sort and are packing them individually, there is a lot of actual handling taking place. Whether they are using their bare hands or gloves, there needs to be a hygiene policy in place to ensure that hand washing occurs every time before they return to work, and if they are using gloves, that they are clean and/or switched out regularly.
There are many more items to be taken into consideration, but this is just a brief list to get you thinking about it! This is also going to be very similar for all stone fruit harvesting and packing.
Postharvest Considerations
The most important thing postharvest for peaches is the cooling process, because in addition to the cultivar being grown, the cooling process immediately after harvest helps determine whether a peach can/will become mealy. You can click here to learn more about the temperature ranges and how packers can work to help eliminate mealiness in peaches.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do they decide when to harvest peaches?
Peach harvest is determined based on the exterior skin color (also referred to as ground color). Since there are cultivars where the color change is masked, firmness tests may also be considered. Growers also check the soluble solids content (SSC – also known as sugars), to make sure the peaches have reached a certain level prior to harvest in order to ensure the best eating experience for the consumer.
Why are peaches harvested before they are ripe?
Peaches are harvested commercially before they are fully ripe and while they are still firm, so that they can last during storage and transportation of the fruit. However, since they are climacteric fruit, they can fully ripen off of the tree if they have reached a certain maturity on the tree.
How are Peaches Harvested?
Peaches are harvested by hand. No harvesting tools (e.g., clippers) are used.
What type of harvesting containers are used to harvest peaches?
Peaches are harvested into fabric bags that the workers are able to strap around their backs.
These bags are the most common form of harvesting containers used with peaches, as they are able to help protect the fruit from damage. However, with that said, they also can provide a food safety concern, as they are not as easy to clean compared to other materials.
Are ladders always used to harvest peaches?
It is common practice to use ladders while harvesting in more mature peach orchards.
Why is there no peach fuzz on peaches you buy from the grocery store?
It is partially removed during the packing process, where the peaches are washed and then ran along brushes. You can see a better visual of this in the video above.
Why are peaches waxed?
Wax is applied to peaches during the packing process (this is dependent on the specific packing company), as the peach fuzz and natural wax was removed during the washing and defuzzing steps and the wax is applied during the packing process to help protect the peaches from water loss and decay, and to help improve the appearance. (You can click here to read more about produce wax.)
How to wash peaches before eating them?
Run the peaches under running water and they are ready to eat! No soap, detergents or brushes are needed. (You can click here to learn more about how to wash different specific produce items.)
Featured Grower Information
I would like to thank Simonian Fruit Company for the tour and for letting me share the gathered content. Simonian Fruit Company is based out of Fowler, California and is a grower/packer/shipper of: peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, grapes, and pomegranates.
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Hi !
Would like to know if besides selling fresh Peach fruit there are other ways of processing and canning so that the shelf life is more and distribution can be done across a big country like India