February 26, 2019

Oxnard:

We are getting back on track with slightly warmer temperatures this week in the 50s-60s, with minimal rain on the forecast - nothing extreme at the moment. Fruit color is 85-90% due to the recent cold temperatures and size is 14-16 count. The organic crop looks very nice, good condition, 90-95 color and 14-16 count. There is very little if any residual of rain damaged fruit in the pack.

Mexico:

Temperatures this week will range in the 70s-80s in our Central Mexico regions with nighttime lows in the high 40s - low 50s and no rain forecasted at the moment. As usual this time of year, we start to experience strong winds in the afternoon depending on the location. The intensity of the sun has caused minor defects such as overripe and green shoulder on some of our strawberries. That said, this week was our last week on Mexico strawberries for the season, and we are focusing now on bushberries. Raspberry quality is very good overall, with a lot of green fruit on the way and excellent quality to come. Organic numbers keep increasing, and we have more raspberry plants to be planted come May-June. Blueberries look good with very minimal issues or rejections at the cooler. Some growers are getting short on labor, but overall, concerns are minor. A few growers are pruning the raspberry plants to start back in August-September, and volume will remain steady and increasing. Warmer weather on the horizon will make the green fruit ripen faster and have smaller size - we will see smaller fruit come April - May. Blackberries have very minor defects from red cell due to the daytime heat, but nothing significant - overall, quality is good. 

 

  

Blueberries:

Harvested volumes are decreasing in Chile, with Brigitta and Elliot as our main varieties. Brigitta is firm and Elliot shows great size and high bloom. Warm temperatures are forecasted this week in all regions with highs in the 90s. Our South zone experienced rain last week, which did interrupt harvest. Volumes here are decreasing as well, but fruit shows good appearance and firmness. Brigitta and Liberty are our main varieties here. 

Florida:

Our California team visited our Florida operations last week and crop quality is looking good. There is still a lot of nice, big fruit in Florida and it has proven to be a successful season so far. Some decent rainfall is on the horizon between today and tomorrow, which could slow or halt production, so please be sure to communicate with our sales team for updates. Overall, quality looks good and we anticipate a strong finish to the season in the next 3-4 weeks as we transition to Salinas-Watsonville.

      
Field Tours:

Our California-based team visited our operations in Florida last week with a handful of our Salinas growers to visit Harvest CROO and watch the strawberry harvest machine in action. We plan to bring a machine here in the fall to trial our growers ranches in Salinas. Once we have done this, we will harvest and continue the development in the spring and summer of 2020. Harvest CROO also plans to develop an office and a "home" for the machine, which should lead to commercialization in California and a limited number of machines in 2021. We look forward to continuing to work further with the Harvest CROO team and bring efficiency and innovation to the berry industry.