The Trade Buzz

CROP UPDATES

STRAWBERRIES

strawberry

Santa Maria

Quality: Conventional and organic fall crop quality is good, with some occurrences of bronzing and misshapen fruit. Organic spring crop quality is good with defects being small-sized fruit, bruising and soft skin.

Volume: Organic spring crop volumes will be steady for the next few weeks. Initial harvests of fall crop have begun, with production becoming steady as we enter late August to early September. First peak volumes are anticipated to arrive in the middle of September to early October.

Pack Counts: Organic spring crop, 30-34. Organic fall crop, 18-22. Conventional fall crop 14-16.

Watsonville/Salinas

Quality: Conventional and organic quality is good with some occurrences of dark, small fruit. Overall, both methods have good sheen, small-to-medium size, strong red color, and good flavor. 

Volume: Production is steady and anticipated to incrementally increase going into September, followed by a decrease in the mid-to-late month.

Pack Counts: Conventional 22-26; Organic 28-32 depending on ranch. 

BLUEBERRIES

blueberry

Mexico

Quality: Quality is good, with nice size, color and flavor. Some occurrences of shriveling, scarring, and deformities.

Volume: Production is trending to a yearly low due to the high heat, rain, and humidity and is anticipated to be low through August/September.

Pacific Northwest

Quality: Overall quality is good.

Volume: Production has been reduced this week due to inclement weather.

RASPBERRIES

raspberry

Mexico

Quality: Quality is fair. Growers are doing their best to keep packs clean.  

Volume: Volume for raspberries will stay at a steady low through August until we pick back up in September.

Watsonville

Quality: Quality is good. 

Volume: Volumes are decreasing rapidly. 

BLACKBERRIES

blackberry

Mexico

Quality: Quality is fair. High humidity is causing some soft fruit and pest pressure. 

Volume: Volumes for blackberries have passed their peak and will steadily decline throughout August until we pick back up in early October.

Watsonville

Quality: Quality is good, with nice color and size and excellent flavor. Minor occurrences of attached calyx. 

Volume: Volumes are increasing week over week. We are currently in peak in production.

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SEPC Southern Exposure

March 6 – 8th
Orlando, FL

USHBC/NABC Blueberry Hill Climb

March 24 – 28th
Alexandria, VA

CPMA

April 8 – 10th
Montreal, Canada

IFPA Retail Conference

April 30 – May 1st
Dallas, TX

IFPA Washington Conference

June 9 – 11th
Washington, DC

Organic Produce Summit

July 9 – 11th 
Monterey, CA

IFPA Foodservice Conference

July 31 – August 1st
Monterey, CA

SEPC Southern Innovations

September 10 – 13th
Charlotte, NC

USHBC/NABC Blueberry Convention

October 8 – 10th
Seattle, WA

IFPA Global Produce & Floral Show

October 16 – 18th
Anaheim, CA

A berry nice note from a California Giant Berry Farms shopper:

“I’ve never written to a producer of any food, but I am compelled to let you know that your strawberries are consistently the best we’ve ever had. We’ve eaten so many that I’m surprised we haven’t grown stems. Thank you for making us believe again that fruit can be grown, packaged, and shipped and remain delicious.”

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