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As the gloomy skies and drizzle continue this summer, berry quality and flavor is consistently good. Volume also remains strong with both conventional and organic varieties, although the fruit is smaller in size.
On the marketing side, we launched our ‘Fresh Start’ back-to-school promotion two weeks ago, which offers recipes, tips and tricks for busy moms, and a few prizes to help build excitement around the new school year. We have already received over 65,000 entries - that’s a lot of moms looking for help and recipes!
For more information, including crop and weather reports, please scroll below.
Watsonville/Salinas: The gray skies and drizzle continues to hang on here along the central coast which is keeping quality, flavor and volume consistent here on strawberries. As you can see in the photo, even though there is fog, there is a lot of bloom on the plants showing more volume is on the way. Counts remain at about 18-20 on conventional and should remain this way for the next couple of weeks. Organic still strong in size, quality and availability as well. Labor is getting tight in this growing region as new crops emerge in southern districts pulling staff into new growing regions.
Santa Maria: Seeing the same fog and drizzle as the northern region. This district has a combination of existing fruit and summer planted fruit just beginning a harvest for the fall season. As you can see in the close-up photo, plants are loaded with a lot of fruit on the way. The blackberry market continues to stay strong in this region and new summer planted strawberry acreage is increasing volume each week. Organics available in both existing crop and fall crop on strawberries. Quality overall is very good with size and flavor showing the majority of counts at 16 – 18.
Blueberry forecast: Our Northwest blueberry growers from Oregon, BC and Michigan are moving into their last picks for the year. For the next two weeks we will be transitioning from domestic to imported blueberry production. During this transition time, volume is expected to be light in September with most volume coming from Argentina & Uruguay. Imported volumes will continue to increase as we move forward.
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.
We love sharing our story with you, and what better way than to have you step into our fields and experience fresh berries at the source. We have conducted many custom tours this summer and can safely say it is one of our favorite things to do here at California Giant. Some customers bring front line staff to help educate them on what goes into getting a crop harvested, and some bring their QA staff to help build stronger partnerships with our team in the field. Many customers plan extensive trips visiting our fields, then head into Salinas and meet with vegetable customers to get the full impact of a trip to the central coast. We invite you to schedule a trip as well and would be proud to host your group on a custom journey through our field and cooling operations. Please reach out to us if interested.
There seems to be a lot of discussion around ‘local’ and ‘locally grown’ produce, but when you ask someone what that means, there are many different definitions. We just received the latest report from the United Fresh Produce Association about this very confusing topic, from the consumer's point of view. After reading it, we are just as confused as we were before we read it. Therefore, we will stay focused on promoting our brand, our values, good quality, flavor and variety so our consumers keep coming back for more. The report says:
Consumer demand for local produce is linked to perceptions that local is fresher and better for the local economy, but consumer definitions of what ‘local’ is vary.
67% of consumers think it is important to buy local produce
50% of consumers say buying local is an important factor in purchasing decisions
Where is the farthest produce can come from in order for you to still consider it to be local?
15% say the same city/town
56% say the same state
19% say the USA
How important is buying local produce? (by generation)
69% - Millennials (born 1981 – 1997) – the largest segment of the population 75+ million
64% - Gen X’ers (born 1965 – 1980) – sandwiched between larger populations segments
64% - Baby Boomers (born 1945 – 1964) – strong numbers at 74 million
Back to school is not just about new clothes and school supplies in the fall. It is also about getting back into grocery shopping for breakfast, school lunches and after school snacks. While we know this time of triggers a shift in shopping behavior, we are always surprised to see the numbers our back-to-school promotions generate. We launched our ‘Fresh Start’ back-to-school promotion two weeks ago offering recipes, tips and tricks for busy moms, and a few prizes to help build excitement around the new school year. We have already received over 65,000 entries in our offer - that’s a lot of moms looking for help and recipes! Be sure to capitalize on this group of shoppers coming into your stores looking for fresh ideas to put in school lunches and on the breakfast table each day.
We launched our Fresh Start Sweepstakes two weeks ago, which is providing consumers with a chance to win a $500 Visa gift card to kickstart the new school year! The grand prize winner will also win a delivery of fresh California Giant berries - the perfect after-school snack. Once consumers enter the sweepstakes, they are given a chance to download our Back-to-School Survival Guide, full of helpful tips, meal ideas and convenience-boosters. This promotion will run through September 6th - check it out by clicking below!
