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Regarding COVID-19: California Giant is working hard to make every effort to ensure the health and safety of our colleagues and coworkers, while maintaining SAFE business and supply continuity of fresh berries to our customers. All areas of our supply chain continues to emphasize thorough sanitation practices and social distancing protocols. Thank you for being a valued customer of California Giant - We are all in this together!
Blueberries
Oregon:
This week conventional blueberry volume will summit, as the significant production will begin to slope down slightly starting next week; however substantial volumes will remain for the next several weeks. The end of next week will complete Duke (variety) harvest for most of our growers, and harvest of mid-season varieties start next week: Draper, Megasblue, Blue Ribbon, Top Shelf to name a few varieties.
Organic production is gearing up for its peak 1st of August and will continue with steady volumes through August. Quality has been very good overall. Size, color, and flavor are all great.
British Columbia:
Our British Columbia blueberry growers will begin harvesting light volume this week and next. The outlook for BC blueberries include intermittent weather patterns, labor shortages, and fair to poor quality to start the season. This is unusual for this time of year – availability of good quality volumes for the fresh market will be affected.
Strawberries
Watsonville- Salinas:
California weather continues to be optimal for strawberries. Averaging mid to low-70’s during the day, with an overnight marine layer and temperatures in the mid-40’s. Overall quality looks good, with thanks for favorable weather. Labor however continues to be an issue. Conventional Counts: 18-20. Organic Counts: 26-28.
Santa Maria:
Quality is generally good; nice color, but some slight bruising here and there that crews are focused on keeping out of the packs. Maintaining our quality standards and labor continue to be the biggest issue. We’re seeing flower and green fruit start to develop for the onset of the fall crop, which will begin early August in light volumes to start. All new plantings are complete; plants look good and are establishing well. Conventional Counts: 18-22. Organic Counts: 26-28.
Raspberries
Watsonville-Salinas:
Growers are currently harvesting Kwanza variety. The quality looks good – nice size and beautiful light color.
Mexico:
Summer marks the middle of the rainy season for Mexico. However, protected fruit looks good and harvest will maintain steady volumes through August.
Blackberries
Watsonville-Salinas:
Blackberry quality continues to look good. Volumes of the Prime Mark variety is steadily increasing, and we expect to reach peak mid-August. As with all of California, labor is tight; good weather has helped keep production steady nevertheless.
Santa Maria:
Quality out of Santa Maria remains really good. The oncoming fruit looks strong – a good sign for the weeks to come for this harvest.
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 hope you enjoyed National Blueberry day as much as us! With peak summer season for our fresh blueberries, it's the perfect time to celebrate and enjoy these plump, juicy berries. So, it's never too late to try out a new delicious blueberry recipe!
A berry sweet message from a Harris Teeter shopper:
"Holy Canoli!!! I do believe these are some of the best strawberries to enter my kitchen! Just topped them, very lightly sugared them to help bring up the flavor, and BOOM!!! I can hardly stay out of them! BRAVO!!😁"
