August 8, 2019

Happy Thursday!

We're wrapping up the first full week of August and not only are summer vacations coming to an end, but school is almost back in session! We are fully prepared for the Back-to-School fun and we're making sure our shopper's are too. College-age consumers can gear up for their very own Fresh Start by enrolling in our California Giant College by choosing their berry student persona - are they the Creative Genius? The Future CEO? Maybe the Athlete or Social Butterfly? Whatever their berry identity is, we have the inspiration (and prizes) to match. We look forward to another fun fall-season connecting with this un-tapped demographic in the produce space, and bringing berries to the classroom. 

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

Crop Updates

Watsonville-Salinas:

Our Watsonville-Salinas regions have been cold, overcast and misty the last few mornings, with afternoons warming up slightly and the sun beginning to peak out. Today, the sun actually came out before noon which has been rare the past few weeks. Temperatures may warm into the mid-70s this weekend, and back down into the 60s-70s next week. Volumes are beginning to slow as an industry and we may not receive another strong push in numbers during the remainder of the season. Quality remains good - with some darker fruit some days, but overall it is decent. Labor is starting to get tight due to back-to-school this week, and we are expecting this may continue as more schools go back in session. Conventional counts are 18-20 and organics are 26-30 - with fruit beginning to look lighter toward the tail-end of this week. Bushberries remain in good shape and volumes will be increasing each week.

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Blueberries:

Oregon:

We are still receiving steady volume from our Oregon growing region. We are packing large conventional volumes at the moment, and are forecasting a decrease next week. Quality has been good across the board. Growers are finishing second and third picks on mid-season varieties like Draper, Legacy, Liberty, Blueribbon, Calypso, and Topshelf - and will be starting first picks on late season varieties like Elliott, Aurora, and Last Call late this week and early next week. Organic volume will increase next week as our large organic farm in Oregon begins picking Last Call and Aurora. We will have steady organic supply through mid-September

British Columbia

Quality has been a variable out of British Columbia, with some issues with soft fruit here and there. This region is decreasing in  volume, and B.C. growers will be starting to harvest Elliott soon.

Mexico

Mexico will begin harvesting light volumes of blueberries during the last week of August.

South America

Our blueberry team has begun planning for the fall crop out of South America. The USDA is working on a new phytosanitary program with Chilean blueberries that could eliminate the requirement for fumigation for blues from certain regions of Chile - this would be beneficial for fruit quality and also open up the possibility of selling USDA certified organic blueberries from Chile.

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Field Tours: 

Another day, another customer field tour that we feel so privileged to be able to have with our partners! Earlier this morning, a large group of 80 from Markon Cooperative came out to our Watsonville strawberry field. Not only did they get to hear straight from our grower and field team, they also got to taste berries straight from the field and even pack their own clamshells with a grading competition to follow. We love showing our partners the hard work and dedication that goes into picking and packing the perfect clamshell of berries - it's a labor of love, and not as easy as one may think (our partners can attest to that!) Great job to all that participated, and we hope to see you all back soon.

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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

 

Reaching Consumers

The summer vacations are coming to an end, and school is about to be in session! With a two-year record of success with our Fresh Start: Back to School promotions, this year's Fresh Start: Back to School promotion will focus primarily on college-age students. This promotion kicks off next Thursday, August 15th and will present our four California Giant berries as four student personas at California Giant University (CGU). From these CGU students personas, our long-term goal is to curate personas that can be utilized after this promotion ends to nurture college students year-round. 

Meet our four berry persona's: 
Blueberry - Athletic 
Raspberry - Creative Genius
Strawberry - Social Butterfly
Blackberry - Future CEO 
 
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Not only will we be implementing a sweepstakes open to college students asking them to identify with their berry persona, we'll also become familiar with where entrants are currently attending college and they'll be added to our email list, as well as receive a link to a Fresh Start: Back to School College Edition eBook for more recipes and dorm-ready inspiration. Through our microsite landing page,  social media and email campaigns, we are so excited to be further connecting to this berry-loving demographic.

Entrants can expect a variety of fun back-to-school prizes like a backpack stuffed with $1,000 worth of school-themed prizes and a stainless steel mini refrigerator and microwave for their new home away from home.

We're excited to continue to target this 'un-tapped' demographic within the produce space and drive sales and berry demand through the fall months ahead. Get ready to enroll in California Giant College!

Consumer Spotlight
The most mighty addition to a breakfast dish!
 
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Pick of the Week
 
Feedback and a photo from the Senior Manager of Produce Procurement at Sprouts:
 
"Just wanted to drop a note and let you know that your berries looked outstanding here at our soon-to-open NJ store (opens tomorrow!) Not often do compliments get passed around in our industry, but I wanted to make sure you and your team know that the conventional and organic strawberries are stealing the show in the berry case out here. Thanks for the support and partnership, and let’s keep killin’ it."
 
Sprouts NJ
  
  
Send us your own "pick of the week" and we will feature it here!
 

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