"There were a million more trays picked last week compared to the same week a year ago, yet we remain several million trays behind year-to-date. Welcome to California agriculture!"
So says Dan Crowley, senior vice president of sales for Gem-Pack Berries, LLC., of the current strawberry season. "A warmer than normal winter changed our production profile from a peak to a plateau with sustained high volume over additional weeks," he says.
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To help supply berries year-round, the grower-shipper maintains crop redundancy with overlapping crops during the winter from Oxnard, Baja, Central Mexico, and Florida. This helps lessen the impact from weather events. As the crop transitions into spring, Central Mexico and Baja continue, while the new crop begins harvesting from Oxnard and Santa Maria. As summer approaches, the crops begin to wind down in Oxnard and later in Santa Maria and transition into Watsonville/Salinas through September, then transition back down to a newly planted fall crop from Oxnard to complete the annual cycle.
"With Watsonville and Salinas in peak season, our strawberries are excellent in both size and flavor," says Crowley. "In Santa Maria, the season will be wrapping up in the coming weeks. Both regions are experiencing cooler-than-average daytime temperatures. Typically, daytime temperatures range from the low to mid-70s, but this season, they have been slightly lower, between 62 and 70°F."
New trends for strawberries
As for demand, this is the time of year when several summer fruits compete for space in the shopping carts of consumers. "In the spring, strawberries face little competition, but as the summer approaches, they share seasonality with stone fruits like peaches, cherries, and plums," says Crowley, adding that even so, strawberries are a staple item in the produce section thanks to their taste and health benefits. Strawberries are also emerging in new ways for consumers. "They have become a trend favorite on social media, appearing in everything from strawberry iced matcha lattes to Dubai chocolate strawberries. Consumers are continually finding new ways to enjoy our flavorful strawberries."
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In all, pricing this year is seeing slightly better averages for strawberries. "Though the biggest challenge facing the strawberry industry is the rising cost of production and shortage of labor. These issues impact every stage of the supply chain, from land and plant prices to day-to-day growing operations," says Crowley, adding that even so, it continues to adapt and find solutions to continue supplying high-quality strawberries.
For more information:
Paola Martin
Gem-Pack Berries, LLC
Tel: +1 (831) 484-3275
[email protected]
www.gem-packberries.com
