The Trade Buzz

CROP UPDATES

STRAWBERRIES

strawberry

Santa Maria

Quality: Fruit quality is excellent, with occasional occurrences of green shoulders.

Volume: Volumes are increasing steadily.

Pack Counts: Conventional spring crop 10-14; Organic fall crop, 22-26.

Florida

Quality: Fruit quality is good with some green tips due to colder weather.

Volume: Production is steadily increasing and anticipated to escalate with warmer temperatures.

Pack Counts: 22-26.

Mexico

Quality: Fruit quality is good with issues of bruising, white shoulders and soft skin.

Volume: Production has passed its peak.

Pack Counts: 18-28.

BLUEBERRIES

blueberry

Mexico

Quality: Conventional quality is good with minor occurrences of shrivel and leaky fruit.

Volume: Conventional volume in Mexico is ramping back up quickly, with volume expected to increase week-over-week until we reach a small peak in March for our conventional blues. We expect relatively steady conventional volume from Mexico through the remainder of the year.

 

Peru

Region Update: Peru has concluded production for the season.

Chile

Quality: Quality is good with nice size, shape, bloom, firmness, color, and flavor.

Volume: In terms of shipments arriving domestically, we are currently in our Chilean peak throughout all of February.

Oxnard

Region Update: Light production has begun. Peak volumes are anticipated to arrive mid-March.

RASPBERRIES

raspberry

Mexico

Quality: Overall, fruit is looking good with a strong red color, sizes and firmness. 

Volume: Volume for raspberries is steady.

BLACKBERRIES

blackberry

Mexico

Quality: Quality is good.

Volume: Volume for blackberries is steady for the rest of the year.

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SEPC Southern Exposure

Feb. 26 – Mar. 1
Orlando, Florida
Booth #728

CPMA

April 28-30
Toronto, Canada

Organic Produce Summit

July 14-16
Monterey, CA

IFPA Foodservice Conference

July 23-24
Monterey, CA
Booth #102

SEPC Southern Innovations

September 9-12
Nashville, TN

IFPA Global Produce & Floral Show

October 14-16
Orlando, FL

New York Produce Show

December 1-3
New York City, NY

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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