The Trade Buzz

CROP UPDATES

STRAWBERRIES

strawberry

Santa Maria

Quality: Conventional and organic fruit quality is good with some decay and pin rot present.

Volume: Production has now entered in a post-peak phase, and estimates will continue to steadily drop week over week until a much more significant drop happens in towards late November. This week’s drops were due to the colder weather and the change in the general production curve as we enter the late Fall season.

Pack Counts: Conventional fall crop 22-24. Organic fall crop, 24-30. 

Watsonville/Salinas

Quality: Conventional and organic quality is good with nice sheen, small-to-medium size, and good flavor.

Volume: Overall production is low, and we are taking production week by week.

Pack Counts: Conventional 22-28; Organic 26-34 depending on ranch. 

Florida

Region Update: Fruit are the first scratch picks of the mud crop and are seeing small and misshapen fruit. Quality is expected to increase week after week.

Mexico

Region Update: Production has begun and we are expecting good volume to increase week over week through November and into December. Initial counts are 18-26 a clamshell. Fruit looks good with occasional green tips and small-to-medium sizing.

BLUEBERRIES

blueberry

Mexico

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

Volume: Volumes are increasing.

 

Peru

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

Volume: Volumes are steady with bulk containers and prepacked pints/18oz containers arriving in CGC once or twice a week almost every week through the rest of the year

 

Chile

Quality: Organic quality is great with minor occurrences of shrivel and leaky fruit.

Volume: Volumes are steady.

RASPBERRIES

raspberry

Mexico

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

Volume: Volume for raspberries is staying steady through November.

Watsonville

Quality: Overall, color is a nice dark red color due to the warm temperatures underneath the hoops and sizing of rasps are a good medium size on average.

Volume: Overall production volume has taken a steep cut—season could be ending soon in the next week or two.

BLACKBERRIES

blackberry

Mexico

Quality: Quality is fair but improving. 

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

Watsonville

Quality: Quality is fair. Attached calyx and red cell regression is a continual occurrence and are seeing some issues of smaller fruit.

Volume: Overall production volume has taken a steep cut as we enter a low of the season.

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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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