Pomegranates: Granada to Wonderful across the San Joaquin Valley season

Pomegranates are a fall fruit that behaves like a storage crop. They do not ripen after picking, they hold for two months in a cold room, and California grows more than 90 percent of the U.S. supply¹, most of it in the San Joaquin Valley. King Quality Produce carries them from August into January: Granada and Early Foothill to open, Early Wonderful to bridge, and Wonderful from October through December with storage fruit into January, packed in two-layer cartons of about 26 lb and sized by count from 16 to 36. Arils are available on request.

The varieties, in the order they arrive

Wonderful is by far the most widely planted commercial pomegranate variety in California² and accounts for most of the commercial crop¹. It matures from late September into October², with deep red skin and arils and the rich tart-sweet juice that set the standard for both retail and juicing. Everything else on our list is defined by its relationship to Wonderful.

Granada is a patented early variety, smaller than Wonderful, maturing around mid-August; its early timing earns it a premium price². The fruit is lighter red, milder and less tart than Wonderful. Early Foothill, listed by UC Cooperative Extension as Foothill Early, is similar to Wonderful but matures one to two weeks earlier²; it has medium-red skin, soft seeds and sweet juice. Early Wonderful is a Wonderful type that ripens a few weeks ahead of the main crop and carries September into October. UC Davis notes that cultivars vary widely in rind color, seed hardness and sugar-acid balance³, which is the difference a buyer tastes between an August Granada and a November Wonderful.

Spanish missionaries brought pomegranates to California in 1769, and commercial production began in 1896 from a shipment of cuttings out of Florida³.

Where it grows and when

Most commercial production is in the San Joaquin Valley³, where the interior valley's hot, dry summers mature fruit with good color and flavor². Trees need a long hot season, and fruit takes six to seven months from flower to ripe³. Our growers are in Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties. In 2021, pomegranates ranked 52nd among California farm commodities at $130.7 million in value, with Fresno County at 20.9 percent and Tulare County at 20.1 percent of the state total⁴.

The crop grew fast through the 2000s. California production rose more than fivefold over a decade, reaching 242,345 tons worth about $122.8 million in 2012; acreage then fell in 2012 and 2013 on low prices³. A usual California year yields about 6 million 25 lb box equivalents, and 30 to 40 percent of the U.S. crop is exported, mainly to Canada, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand⁵. For 2025, a California processor described the crop as about normal in size with a slightly delayed start¹.

Harvest typically runs from late August through early December¹, and nearly all whole-fruit shipments move September through December⁶; Wonderful harvest starts in the first week of October, and arils continue into April⁶. Our storage fruit carries into January.

How to buy it

Our standard pack is a two-layer carton of about 26 lb, sized by count from 16 to 36. A 16 is a very large fruit that sells by the piece; a 36 is small and suited to juicing and arils. Wonderful tends to peak on size 22s, while one Fresno shipper's early variety peaks around 30s⁶. Sizing moves from large to small over the season, so tell us which counts you need and we will tell you what the week looks like. For a sense of the range before freight, USDA shipping-point prices rose from $23.08 a carton in 2018 to $29.77 in 2019 and were about $30 by the time The Packer reported on the 2022 season⁶.

On receiving, remember the one rule that governs this fruit: pomegranates do not ripen after harvest^{3, 7}, so what arrives is what you will sell. UC Davis maturity indices call for red skin by cultivar, juice acidity below 1.85 percent, soluble solids above 17 percent and tannin below 0.25 percent⁷. Quality is freedom from growth cracks, cuts, bruises and decay, plus skin color and smoothness⁷. Fruit should feel heavy for its size. Check the calyx, the crown end, for gray mold, because Botrytis infection often starts in calyx tissue in the orchard⁷. Heart rot, caused by Alternaria and Aspergillus, blackens the arils inside fruit that looks fine outside; packinghouse sorters catch most of it⁷.

• Count 16 to 22: display and by-the-piece fruit
• Count 24 to 30: everyday retail and restaurant use
• Count 32 to 36: juicing, arils and prep

Storage and shelf life

UC Davis gives an optimum of 5 C (41 F) for up to two months, and 7.2 C (45 F) for longer storage, with relative humidity at 90 to 95 percent⁷. Chilling injury sets in after more than a month between 26.6 and 41 F, or more than two months at 41 F; the skin browns, the arils go pale, and the white membranes between the arils discolor⁷. Husk scald, a brown skin discoloration with no internal symptoms, appears after more than three months at 45 F or below⁷.

Water loss is the other issue, which is why packers use plastic liners and wax, especially when humidity is low⁷. Ethylene is not a concern: exposure at 1 ppm or higher stimulates respiration but does not change quality⁷. Respiration runs 2 to 4 ml of CO2 per kg per hour at 41 F versus 8 to 18 at 68 F⁷, so a pallet left on a warm dock ages about four times as fast as one in the cooler. Gray mold is the most important postharvest decay⁷; keep fruit dry, cold and gently handled, and sort out cracked fruit on arrival.

Nutrition

Per 100 g of raw pomegranate arils, USDA FoodData Central lists 83 calories, 18.7 g carbohydrate, 13.7 g sugars, 4.0 g fiber, 1.67 g protein and 77.9 g water⁸. Per 100 g it is a source of 236 mg potassium, 10.2 mg vitamin C, 16.4 µg vitamin K, 38 µg folate, 0.60 mg vitamin E, 36 mg phosphorus and 12 mg magnesium⁸. A 4-inch pomegranate yields about 282 g of arils and a half cup of arils weighs 87 g⁸, so a half-cup garnish carries about 3.5 g of fiber and roughly 205 mg of potassium.

In the kitchen

In Los Angeles the pomegranate is not a garnish, it is a staple. Persian kitchens build fesenjan and ash-e anar on pomegranate juice and molasses; Armenian and Lebanese cooks fold arils into salads, muhammara and fattoush; and Mexican kitchens time chiles en nogada to the arrival of the first fruit in late summer. Juice bars and cold-press operations buy by the pallet for the whole season, and the organic juice market is strong enough that one California processor reports more demand than available fruit¹.

For restaurants, arils are the working form: on salads, roasted vegetables, yogurt and desserts, and in cocktails. Whole fruit sells on display and by the piece at markets, where the larger counts make the show; smaller counts go to the bar and the prep kitchen. A case bought in October is still good in November if it has been held cold and dry.

The season moves fast from Granada to Wonderful, and sizing drifts smaller as it goes. Call the office at (213) 627-7181 or email office@kingqualityproduce.com for this week's counts, pricing and aril availability.