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As far as quality, our conventional fall crop still looks good - mostly at 24-26 count. Production is rapidly slowing as we get into the damaged fruit from the frost a few weeks back. Organic fall crop quality is very nice, mostly 26-30 outside of tunnels and 22-24 count under the tunnels. Last week was our last time harvesting fall crop organic outside of the tunnels at Providence Ranch, and we will continue the 20 acres under the tunnels until further notice. The plants under the tunnels look very strong and pushing a new flower set that looks to have very nice size.
Labor is not an issue right now. We are in between fall crop harvest schedules and growers are mowing and pulling plastic behind the crews. Ranches are still de-blossoming on the spring crop and few growers are starting to pull out the overhead sprinklers.
Mexico:
We have had the same weather patterns as previous weeks in all our growing regions – with nighttime lows in the high 40s and daytime highs in the 70s. We have seen an increase in volume for strawberries, and anticipate our peak being from January 15 - February 15. There is a lot of blossom and green fruit in our fields. Irapuato and Zamora are slightly behind with festival fruit, but quality remains good. Strawberry counts are between 24-26, with some 28. Raspberries will start to pick up in volume, with some late planted crops set for harvest in February.
Oxnard:
It’s been a very mild winter in Oxnard, with typical temperatures staying warm and temperate. However, we are experiencing our first cooling trend of the season this week with lows in the 50s and highs in the low 60s accompanied by 1-2” of rainfall between Monday and Tuesday. From January 20th on weather permitting, we should see a large increase in volume. Quality is excellent among both conventional and organic strawberries, with counts at 14-16 for Frontera and San Andreas and color at 95-100%. Shape is also excellent with no significant issues at hand.
Blueberries:
We anticipate our Chilean peak being the end of January into early February. However, blueberry fieldmen are predicting an early finish to the season – with the season winding down at the end of February. That said, we could see a gap in production come March. Overall, fruit quality looks good, with warm temperatures on the horizon.
Florida:
Weather was very cold last week - with lows between 29-30 at night with a lot of frost. We have a lot of coverage on our fruit, resulting in no significant damage on the blossoms and green fruit. Saturday night will be another cold evening, but after we get through this cold weather we will start to warm up Sunday with temperatures in the high 60s and low 50s at night. A warming trend will emerge next week – with temperatures increasing to 70-74 degrees and lows in the mid 50s. From here on, we anticipate being back to our regular pattern. Volume-wise, we will be increasing significantly over the next 3-4 weeks with our peak still set for the second week of February. Cold weather has helped with our counts, with Radiance 13-15, Sensation 14-16, and Florida Beauty 20-22. Everything is looking good and firm, with color at about 90%. This large, firm fruit should continue through January and into February.
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 are focusing on all things organics, with highlights from Packer's first Fresh Trends report dedicated solely to organic produce trends. We have learned from years of the Fresh Trends reports that consumers tend to buy more fresh produce as their income increases and they age. This doesn’t hold true for the organic consumer. In nearly every category, the 18-39 age group was the most likely to purchase the organic version of fruits and vegetables.
What is the organic motivation? According to this report, food safety is the top reason that consumers say they choose organically grown produce (6 out of 10 consumers). Nearly half of the organic consumers say that they buy organic for ‘personal health’ reasons. About one-third of the organic shoppers cite environmental/social responsibility as the reason for buying organic.
The ongoing debate of whether or not organics should be separate or intermixed with conventionally grown produce was also addressed in this report. According to those respondents, the majority of organic shoppers prefer to have organics grouped into a separate section with the produce department. 70% said they wanted organics displayed this way, compared to 30% wanting all produce intermixed (as long as they don’t touch).
When asked where are you most likely to buy your organic fresh produce, most responded that they purchase organics at their regional supermarket or chain superstore (each at 28%). Whereas about 18% purchase at their specialty store such as Whole Foods, Trade Joes or Sprouts. Another 10% state they prefer farmers markets and the remaining respondents prefer warehouse stores or chain discounters (8% each)
One of the big questions that gets asked and included in this report is “How much more are you willing to pay for organic versus conventional?” Based on this data there is clearly a threshold between 10-24%
In looking at berries specifically with regard to organic versus conventional purchasers, there was some interesting data shared:
Blueberries: The biggest organic blueberry purchasers follow the overall trend of 18-39 year old, slightly skewed to male over females (45% v 34%) and based on ethnicity the largest organic only buyer is Asian at 40%, followed by Hispanics and Caucasians. There was no real significant difference in purchasing behavior based on households with or without children at home, except 54% of households with 3 or more kids reported buying organic blueberries ‘periodically’. but those making more than $100,000 a year did show higher purchasing tendencies. Overall organic blueberries made up nearly 12% of blueberry retail sales in 2016, contributing to more than $172 million according to IRI/Fresh Look Marketing. Overall these sales contributed 3.4% to the total organic produce sales that year.
Strawberries: Ranked as the number 2 item that consumers prefer to buy organic, which topped at 65 million pounds in 2016. Organic berries made up 8.6% of strawberry sales in 2016 and the category contributed 5.2% to total organic produce sales that same year. One third of consumers say they buy organic strawberries at least some of the time, which is up 28% from a year ago. Organic only purchasers also increased by 2% over the previous year. Shoppers in the west are most likely to buy and those in the mid-west least likely. Based on the age group, strawberries also follow the trend with the majority of the ‘organic only’ shoppers being aged 18-39. Based on ethnicity, this also is a similar report as the blueberry shopper with 35% Asian, followed by African/American and Hispanics.
For more produce insights, visit our Trade Page here.
Our shopper Steven loves California Giant blueberries. Even 2 weeks after purchase, he says, "they were still good as new!" We love knowing we bring quality, freshness and flavor to the table.
HEB is all about the blues. Shopper's are snagging these blueberry pints for healthy New Year salads, snacks and smoothies!
