The Trade Buzz

CROP UPDATES

STRAWBERRIES

strawberry

Santa Maria

Quality: Most fruits are displaying a vibrant full red color and a round, conical shape. Some creasing and minor tip defects have lingered, but they’re less prevalent than in recent weeks. Quality is expected to remain steady with favorable weather on the horizon.

Volume: Production has entered the peak of the Spring Crop season.

Pack Counts: 18-22;

 

Watsonville/Salinas

Quality: Quality looks great, with some instances of bruising and dry calyxes.

Volume: Production is looking good for conventional and organic fruit, with our estimates doubling each week as we approach the expected peak of the season sometime in June.

Pack Counts: Conventional:10-16; Organic: 12-16;

 

BLUEBERRIES

blueberry

Mexico

Quality: Quality remains good, with good flavor, bloom and appearance, although we are seeing some issues with redberries, soft and leaking fruit, and shriveling from the high heat.

Volume: Conventional volume in Mexico is trending down each week, and we are expecting the conventional blue season to end towards July. Organic production will begin again around August.

 

Florida

Quality: Conventional quality remains good, with good flavor, bloom and appearance.

Volume: While production is in the peak of this season’s production curve, estimates continue to be stunted down about 30%-50% of initial estimates due to previous weather events.

Oxnard

Quality: Organic blues’ quality looks great, with great size, flavor, and bloom.

Volume: We have passed our peak here, and will have a quick and steady decline in production here until the season ends towards the end of May.

 

Georgia

Quality: Organic blues’ production and quality continues to look great, with great size, flavor, and bloom.

Volume: Similar to Florida estimates continue to be stunted down about 30%-50% of initial estimates due to previous weather events.

 

Central Valley

Region Update: Organic production is quickly ramping up, with peak production coming in May and lasting through mid-June. Conventional scratch pickings will begin around early May.

 

Pacific Northwest

Region Update: Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia production will begin around July.

RASPBERRIES

raspberry

Mexico

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

Volume: Volume for raspberries is in a dip, but volume should start increasing steadily from now through May.

BLACKBERRIES

blackberry

Mexico

Quality: Quality is good.

Volume: Volume for blackberries is consistent, but we are in a dip in production from pruning over the last week.

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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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