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Santa Maria:
The storms from the past 2 weeks have been keeping fields wet, but last week’s aggressive winds have finally died down. Temperatures have been in the low 60s during the day and low 40s at night – and no significant rainfall is forecasted for the next few days, with slight odds over the weekend. Quality concerns include pin rot on some ranches, but nothing significant. Our organic hooped strawberries are a bit cleaner than our other fruit being that they are protected. However, in general, fruit looks decent and the new plants coming in look excellent. We could see Fronteras harvest as early as middle of January depending on weather.
Oxnard:
After receiving 1.5-2.0 inches of rain starting last Wednesday evening and all morning Thursday, the fruit and fields look very good. Conditions now consist of clear skies with a slight breeze - perfect picking conditions. We were fortunate to have very blustery cool winds all night after the rains passed through, allowing the top of beds to dry off reducing the amount of water-damaged fruit. Some of the furrows still have standing water, others are beginning to dry out. The organic fruit held up pretty well, some tip damage, but not affecting the pack. Counts are 22-24, with 90/100 percent color. The conventional fruit is showing very little to no water damage. Counts are 14-16, with 95/100 percent color. The fields benefited greatly from the latest rain; volume will increase weekly.
Mexico:
Weather has been cold in most Mexico regions the last few weeks, with scattered rainfall as well. Going into this week, temperatures look mild and warm in almost all our regions with mostly sunny skies. Blueberries look large and firm, and raspberries look nice in size, quality and firmness as well. Ziracuaretiro blackberries look excellent in quality right now. Our Zamora and Irapuato strawberries look good, and should increase in volume in the coming days and weeks. Maravatio is producing great quality strawberries currently with counts mostly 22-24.
Blueberries:
Last week our COO, Joe Barsi, traveled to both Peru and Chile to meet with our South American team to tour operations and facilities and meet with our various growing partners. But Joe wasn't alone, our videographer joined him on the trip and captured all the travels, conversations, crops and operations. We look forward to continuing to be Everybody's Berry, and are proud of our berry roots all over the world - from California to British Columbia to South America and beyond. Stay tuned for the footage of our Chilean travels.
Florida:
Weather has been in the high 70s, low 40s at night as we headed into a warming trend into the weekend. Kicking off this week, temperatures will be in the low 60s to start, as we now transition into a cooling trend, with highs jumping up to the mid 70s with showers into the weekend. Following this, weather should stable out, while showers remain light and won't affect our crops. Quality is good with counts 20-24, with sensations lower at 18-20. Our Radiance has slightly higher counts mostly around 20, with no labor issues. Our organics are getting a slow start but looking great. Volume overall is increasing week by week in both conventional and organics.
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 have a few weeks left of our Merry Berry and Bright Cookie Exchange Promotion and we can't wait to see more cookie recipe submissions from our consumers (select submissions featured below).
One way we love to connect with our berry tribe is through social media and our fun, engaging promotions and sweepstakes. Our previous 10 Days of Giving promotion that wrapped up at the beginning of the month blew us away with the social engagement we received on Instagram alone - with comments and love from viewers as they tagged those they were thankful for this season. This resulted in a whopping 15,000+ comments and sentimental stories of gratitude that we thoroughly enjoyed sifting through. We look forward to continuing to drive engagement through our social channels and connecting with shoppers during the holiday season - and in this case - asking them to share their favorite cookie recipes with us so we can recreate them in our very own California Giant kitchen! Stay tuned for the 5 winners of our Merry Berry and Bright Promotion after the New Year.
Send us your own "pick of the week" and we will feature it here!
