April 18, 2019

Happy Thursday!

It sure does feel like spring in our California berry growing regions - weather has been beautiful this week, and berries are of abundance. We have a lot of fruit on the horizon for the months ahead and look forward to seeing berries on display, on the menu and on the table. We would also like to announce effective Monday, April 29th, we will be adding an additional two layers to each 8-1-lb pallet to maximize freight on trucks. Receivers will need to adjust their internal receiving systems by April 29th to accommodate this shift in quantities per pallet to ensure proper counts on arrival. Please contact our sales team should you have any questions regarding this change. We hope you all have a Happy Easter!

For more information, including crop and weather reports, please scroll below.

Crop Updates

Watsonville-Salinas: 

Weather this week in Watsonville-Salinas has been beautiful - temperatures have been in the mid-high 70s and the sun has been shining. Crews are still cleaning up their mud crop here and there, but overall, most growers have kicked off the season, with next week the season expected to be 'all in' and completely ready to go with all crews and growers. Volume is increasing each week, and counts are generally 10-12 and full color, with very large fruit in the fields. 

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Santa Maria

Weather this week started off slightly cooler with very minimal rain Tuesday, and has since transitioned into gorgeous weather conditions with temperatures in the 70s-80s and sunny. We expect these conditions to persist through the weekend and a warming trend to reappear next week as well. San Andreas is 15-17 count, with nice quality and the most consistent of our varieties at the moment. Fronteras is 18-22 count and has seen better quality this week than previous weeks. It tends to transition between 3 different shades of red, but the warmer weather should keep it on track the next few weeks. Monterey is 14-15 count and quality is block to block, crew to crew - with most defects being weather related. Overall, quality is good with some burnt calyx and bruising here and there, but nothing alarming or significant. Our organic fields look excellent with great quality and volume increasing overall week by week. Labor continues to be a non-issue in this region.

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Oxnard:

Weather has been in the 60s-70s, with consistent temperatures in the 70s the rest of this week and into next - with sunny skies on the forecast as well. Fronteras is mostly 16-20 count and 90-100% color and great quality. Our organics look very good at 18-20 count, and also 90-100% with steady volume the next 3 weeks. Labor is very tight right now - with foot traffic hard to come by.

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Blueberries:

Georgia Blueberries: 

Weather this week in Georgia looks good with the exception of some storms tomorrow. Quality has been good with firm berries and few defects, with our peak week beginning next week through the end of the following week.  

Oxnard Organic Blueberries: 

Oxnard weather this week into next should be warm and temperatures will be in the mid-high 70s with sunny skies. Organic blueberry quality has improved since last week, with recent picks showing large, firm berries.  

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Mexico:

Our Central Mexico region has experienced some very hot temperatures lately in the high 90s. Days are getting longer and the heat in the afternoon is becoming very noticeable as April-May are the hottest months of the year. We foresee no rain in sight, yet winds do become a concern here and there as they can make hoops collapse. Raspberry quality is excellent and an increase in volume is expected for May-June - with a big spike in numbers the last week of June. Our main concern for our raspberry crop continues to be thrips (pests) but we are keeping up with necessary prevention within the fields. Blueberry crops have past their peak of production and volumes are slowly starting to decrease. Quality has remained very good, but with slightly smaller fruit due to warm weather. Volume should remain steady until the third week of May. Blackberries will remain steady in volume the next few weeks and quality remains good, with only reported defects being minor leaky berries and thrip damage. 

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Weather Conditions

For up-to-date weather conditions in all of our growing regions, click on the region below. Wunderground.com is our go-to weather resource for fast and reliable weather updates. 

Watsonville

Salinas

Santa Maria

Oxnard

Mexico

Georgia

Florida

South America

 

News
Are you ready for our Annual Spring Lamb Barbecue? This year is extra special, as it will be our 60th Annual Barbecue uniting our friends, family and industry members to gather, eat, and enjoy - but most importantly - support the American Cancer Society with all proceeds donated from the event. Please visit our official Spring Lamb Barbecue web site here to purchase tickets or sponsor $200 per lamb. We'll see you there!
 

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Reaching Consumers
Something we are really proud of here at California Giant is our path to sustainability - from our headquarters, to our cooling facilities, to our berry fields. Not only has this journey involved a pilot program with our one of our strawberry growers as we have partnered with Measure to Improve, we have also recently gone completely paperless within our California Giant corporate office facilities, and are even transitioning our food safety and operational initiatives that have otherwise been conducted with only paper, to fully digital. We are so excited for the efficiencies we are bringing to our headquarters, cooling facilities and into the fields to protect and preserve our planet, as well as create efficiencies for our employees- and have created a brand new element of our consumer-faced web site dedicated to our sustainability story. We hope you all continue to follow us on this journey to becoming a 100% sustainable company by 2020.
 
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California Giant Chef Invitational

Calling all those interested in participating in our 2019 Chef Invitational! 

Please fill out our official entry form below for the Chef Invitational if you have chefs interested in competing!

Submit Recipe

This detailed entry form asks for the recipe, instructions, photo, chef bio, headshot and more. In order to be entered in to participate in the selection process, this form MUST be filled out no later than May 1st. Haven't filled it out yet? That's ok - you still have a little time! Please let us know if you have questions regarding the application process at tsmith@calgiant.com 
 

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Consumer Spotlight
Our berries thrive during the spring time...clearly!   
 
Pick of the Week
 
 
Pick of the Week
This Salinas Costco is loaded with 2-lb organic blueberries just in time to enjoy over the holiday weekend!
 
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  Send us your own "pick of the week" and we will feature it here!
 

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