be ripe for the picking

be ripe for the picking

To be in an ideal position or at the perfect stage to be utilized, benefited or profited from, taken advantage of, exploited, etc. (Alludes to fruit being at the right stage to be harvested.) Assert our brand early and aggressively enough, and this new market will be ripe for the picking. I heard that massive company just dropped their current PR team—that contract is ripe for the picking! This land is ripe for the picking if we can get the locals to sign over the rights to it.
See also: picking, ripe
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • lord it over
  • lord it over (one)
  • lord it over somebody
  • lording
  • lord (something) over (one)
  • cry all the way to the bank
  • keep (something) up (one's) sleeve
  • have a card up (one's) sleeve
  • have a trick up (one's) sleeve
  • have an ace up your sleeve
References in periodicals archive
With that sort of record, Republican governors might seem to be ripe for the picking. But the Democratic Party establishment, which remains obsessed with its collapsing fortunes at the federal level, has been slow to respond.
Going for governor