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Regarding COVID-19: California Giant is working hard to make every effort to ensure the health and safety of our colleagues and coworkers, while maintaining SAFE business and supply continuity of fresh berries to our customers. All areas of our supply chain continues to emphasize thorough sanitation practices and social distancing protocols. Thank you for being a valued customer of California Giant - We are all in this together!
We’ve had beautiful weather over the past week, with temperatures staying in the 80’s during the day and lows in the 40’s-50’s at night. This upcoming strawberry crop couldn’t look any better, the quality and size are superb! We’re seeing a 9-12 count so far, but we’ll average 12’s for the next 2-3 weeks with consistent berry size. Monterey is the primary variety, with a little bit of Cabrillo. There’s still some burnt calyx here and there, but this will be gone in the coming weeks. Organic strawberry fields are looking strong and on target for peaking in volume late May to early June to remain steady throughout the summer.
With summer inching ever closer, the temperatures outside are warming to high 80’s paired with heavy winds at 20-25 mph after we had overcast and cool temperatures last week. This sudden increase in temperature will affect size tremendously, and we could expect clamshell counts up to 25! Most fields are climbing into their peak production over the next 3-4 weeks. Fronteras is mostly at its’ peak or post peak production right now and will gradually decrease over the next few weeks. San Andreas looks to be getting into its peak the first 2 weeks in May with Monterey only a week behind, peaking mid to late May. Weather the next couple weeks will be a challenge, though; We’re anticipating seeing fruit size coming off into the high teens and low 20’s and we will be battling soft, overripe fruit and bruising.
We’re anticipating the same warming trend that Santa Maria is seeing, about 10-15 degrees above normal. Temperatures could get as high as the 90’s and then is expected to normalize into the 70’s by the end of next week with lows averaging around 60 degrees overnight. We’re keeping a close eye on quality as the fresh market season comes to a close.
Raspberry
Watsonville-Salinas:
We’re expecting to start May with small volumes and an expected increase in volume as we move towards June.
Mexico:
The production from Zamora is the only zone that is increasing, and weeks 20-22 will be our last harvest before overall production decreases.
Organic Raspberry:
Production is decreasing and will finish over the next two weeks with quality remaining the same.
Blackberry
Watsonville-Salinas:
We’re expecting to harvest by mid-June! Labor continues to not be an issue, with some of the labor force starting to arrive from Oxnard ready to work.
Mexico:
The production will continue to increase, and weeks 19 and 20 will be the last pick of the season. Berry quality remains the same because of the hard work of our growers!
Blueberries:
Mexico:
Temperatures are currently ranging from 55-90 degrees, with berry quality remaining steady. Most fields will stay mostly cloudy or with isolated thunderstorms this week.
Oxnard:
Quality on Oxnard organics is good. We will peak here over the next two weeks!
Florida:
Quality out of Florida is good. We are beyond our peak in Florida and are expecting to be finished by mid-May.
Georgia
Quality out of Georgia is good for the most part. We are entering peak production and will have large weekly volumes through the end of May. We’re seeing mostly firm berries with a few minor defects. Growers are going to start harvesting the Farthing variety later this week, which looks great this year with large volumes and good quality expected!
Central Valley California
Our large conventional volume out of the Central Valley is expected to begin around mid-May.
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.
This week, we're encouraging consumers to treat themselves for their next virtual happy hour! From a simply sweet drink to an ooey-gooey snack, California Giant is here for all of your virtual happenings.
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A berry sweet message from an Aldi’s shopper:
“The berries were a surprise. They were on sale and sounded good, so I bought a box. They were delicious! I have never seen such beautiful, large berries before. Now that I know I will look for your brand. thank-you!”
Brother’s Produce Houston –
It is inspiring to see our Foodservice Operators pivoting so quickly during this pandemic and doing everything they can to keep business moving, employees working, and making fresh fruit and vegetables easily available at an affordable cost to consumers. We are all in this together!
