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Watsonville-Salinas:
Weather has been favorable in the low-mid 70s with cool, foggy mornings. It looks like we are heading into a warming trend this weekend with temperatures steady in the mid 70s and sunny skies. Next week, temperatures should drop slightly, but still maintaining moderate weather. Quality this week is better than last - darker fruit is lightening up and size is increasing. Numbers are increasing as well, with volume projected to continue to slightly spike over the next 2-3 weeks. Counts are 18-20 while organic fruit is 24-30. Organic fruit is also making a push in volume the next few weeks. Blackberries are looking good and will continue to increase in volume in the weeks ahead. Raspberries may start to slowly decline until our next crop kicks off come August, with numbers to begin to increase after that. Labor is not an issue at this time, and we are noticing personnel actually looking for work - which is a plus for the industry for what is typically a slow month for labor.
Santa Maria:
Weather started off this week with wet and overcast mornings and sunnier afternoons with temperatures in the low-mid 70s and nighttime lows in the 50s. We are seeing a warming trend the next 5 days with the marine layer burning off and potentially reaching the 80s over the weekend. Quality varies ranch to ranch - we are dropping fruit here and there. Counts are mostly 20-24 among conventional fruit, and crews are doing their diligence in packing clean clamshells. We finished planting our fall crop which has alleviated time for personnel to focus on a regular rotation in the field. Organic crops are holding up well, and fruit is primarily 24-28 count. We expect an increase in size next week, and can see a lot of strong green fruit on the way. We will have steady production the next 2 months or so until we begin to wrap up and prep for the following season come August.
Blueberries:
Oregon Blueberries:
We are in the middle of the Duke peak now. Quality is good - Duke is firm with good size and very few defects. We are starting to pick early-mid season varieties like Draper, Blue Ribbon, Megas Blue, Top Shelf, and Cargo. Blue ribbon, Top Shelf, Megas Blue, and Cargo are newly released premium fresh blueberry varieties that we will be marketing for the first time. They are known for their firmness, great flavor and eating quality, and shelf life. We will have large volumes of organic fruit out of Oregon starting next week.
Washington Organics:
Our organic grower in Eastern Washington is continuing his Duke harvest through the next two weeks. Quality is good. Weather has been mild in Eastern Washington so far this season, but will begin heating up this weekend
British Columbia growers are currently harvesting large volumes of Duke - quality is good.
Field Tours:
This week we had the pleasure of taking some of our friends at Harris Teeter out to our berry fields. We love every opportunity to visit with our partners and show them our fresh berry fields!
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.
Last call! Be sure to head to our California Giant headquarters next Tuesday, July 16th to pick up your Skirt Steak BBQ lunch(es).
We can't wait to see you and support these amazing local organizations that care for families in our very own community.
This week we are bringing our retail partners some fresh insights! Recently added to our Trade Site, we have included updated retail category trends from the recent California Strawberry Commission report. We spotted a few fresh facts we thought we'd highlight within the berry category below.
We're excited to see that berries rank #1 in the produce sales category, and has grown the most of any commodity with 6.6% in dollar sales YOY across all top 11 produce categories.
Be sure to check back regularly to our Trade site for more industry insights and updates!
