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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:
Conventional and organic blueberry volume continues to remain steady for the next three weeks. We are currently harvesting mid-season varieties such as Draper, Legacy and several others. The first picks of late-season varieties like Elliott and Aurora will begin in about a week. Quality has been good overall; the team is working hard to ensure consistent premium quality.
Mexico:
Production out of Mexico will be very light for the rest of the summer before the fall crop begins to ramp up mid-September. Quality is looking great.
Strawberries
Watsonville- Salinas:
The coastal growing regions of California continues to experience wet, foggy mornings with partly-to-mostly cloudy afternoons. Temperatures have been in the mid-60s to low 70s. We anticipate a slight warm up next week, but the fog will continue to roll in each night. Strawberry quality is good, as the berries favor these foggy summer days. Growers are reporting some dark fruit, but it still firm with great flavor. Counts: Conventional: 18-20; Organic: 24-26.
Santa Maria:
While overall quality remains good, growers and their teams are working hard to battle mold and lygus pressure. The wet morning fog has increased mildew and lygus pressure is reported to be high throughout the valley. We’re seeing some seedy and crooked berries, along with some dark and bruised fruit – we’re impressed with the crew’s efforts to work around these issues and ensure clean, quality packs. Counts: Conventional: 18-22; Organic: 24-28. We are starting to see the overlap of the summer crop, which will continue to be harvested through August, with the fall crop, which started being picked (in small volume) this week. Growers are reporting a nice flower set and start of green fruit. Fall Crop Counts: Conventional: 14-16.
Raspberries
Watsonville-Salinas:
Growers are currently harvesting the Kwanza variety. Volume is down, as we’re past the spring crop, but expect an uptick starting early September.
Mexico:
It’s hot (90s F) and rainy in Mexico, but the raspberries have been performing really well. Growers have been harvesting above forecast and expect a continued rise in volume now through November.
Blackberries
Watsonville-Salinas:
Quality remains good, apart from some reports of red cell here and there. Growers are working to get those out of it and are working hard to keep them out of the packs. Volume is on the rise and will keep increasing through early September.
Mexico:
Growers are looking forward to another good season of blackberries this Fall/Winter. Harvest will begin in small volumes starting mid-September and will increase week over week through December.
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.
National Blueberry Month may be coming to an end, but California Giant is your go-to brand for a year-round supply of these nutritious berries.
A berry sweet message from one of our Costco shoppers:
"Your strawberries were some of the best I have every had! They smelled great in the store and stayed fresh for a long time at home. Thank you! I also really appreciate having organic strawberries and thank you for your extra effort to grow organically!"
Our organic strawberries are looking great at Target's display.
