June 26, 2020

We've officially entered into peak PNW blueberry season! Consumers will be sure to enjoy these ripe berries during their red, white, and blue-berry celebrations!

To support our summer season berries, the "Sip, Chill, Repeat" summer sweepstakes is still going on! We've even added another initiative to drive purchase with an iBotta coupon, giving customers $0.35 off their next California Giant strawberry purchase. With our great quality berries, coupons, ebooks and more, our consumer audience has a lot to get excited about and enjoy this summer season!

The 2020 California Giant Chef Invitational is still underway. We are down to the top 6 finalists and encourage everyone to vote for their favorite dish! Be sure to check out all of the creative recipes and vote! Vote here now!

Don't forget to follow us on social media: @calgiantberries to see the latest updates on our consumer engagements.

Crop Updates

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:

Harvest of conventional Duke variety blueberries is expected to ramp up this week, with some growers already harvesting steady volume. Other growers in the North Willamette Valley just began at the end of this week. Overall blueberry volume is increasing every day. Mid-season varieties will be ready for first harvest around week 28. Our peak volume will continue through week 29.

IMG_2732-2-1

Mexico:

Production will continue to decline in the coming weeks out of Mexico. Quality has been good overall. The growers are working hard to maintain consistent berry size throughout the packs.

Strawberries

Watsonville- Salinas:

Ideal strawberry weather continues with highs in the mid to low 70’s forecasted for the week ahead. Overall, quality is good. We’re seeing smaller sized fruit become the norm – with counts averaging 20-24 out of Watsonville and 26-26 out of Salinas.

Labor has gotten tight industry-wide these recent weeks, with harvest schedules falling behind and the potential of fruit getting overripe. At this time of the year, it is common for field staff to now qualify for PTO, and many are taking advantage of this, which will result in the continuation of labor shortages going forward.

IMG_1729-2-1

Santa Maria
Weather continues to cooperate nicely with highs in the low to mid-70’s and overnight lows in the 50’s, with early morning fog. Crews are working slowly through the fields to ensure quality is maintained. Counts: 21-24.

Organic Strawberries
Quality is improving in the Watsonville-Salinas area. We are still seeing some bruising and overripe; as well as, some bronzing but it has improved over recent weeks. Counts: 26-30. Our biggest challenge right now is labor.

Santa Maria quality continues to improve with less bruising due to cooler temps. They've got a good shape, good color, and are firm. The fruit is looking the best it has in weeks. Size is mostly mid-upper 20s, occasional 30-32.

IMG_1732-1-1

Raspberries
Watsonville-Salinas
We saw great quality out of this peak week's harvest. Volume will now begin to decrease slightly through July before rebounding to peak volume again in early September.

IMG_7131-2

Blackberries 
Watsonville-Salinas:
The weather is extremely favorable and continues to support our expectations of a solid summer blackberry crop. Currently, we're harvesting the Ouachita variety; beautiful, deep purple, big fruit. The Prime Ark variety will start in light volumes this week.

Santa Maria:
Similar to Watsonville, quality continues to be stellar. Santa Maria harvest will maintain its peak harvest volumes now throughout the summer.

IMG_5397-2-1

Georgia:
Blackberry quality out of Georgia remains strong and continue to look and taste great. We’re currently in peak harvest and will soon see volume taper off.

IMG_8810-2-1

 

Weather Conditions

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. 

Watsonville

Salinas

Santa Maria

Oxnard

Mexico

Georgia

Florida

South America

 

Reaching Consumers

Tis the season for some red, white, and blue-berry treats! With peak season for ripe berries, it's the perfect time to celebrate with these fresh, juicy berries. Try out these patriotic recipe this 4th of July!

 

Red, White, and Blue 4th of July Skewers

red white blue skewers-3-2

Patriotic Popsicles

red_white_and_blue_pop-42-102078-edited-1

Consumer Spotlight

A berry sweet message from a Giant Eagle Shopper:

"Wow, these were very flavorful. Reminded me of when I used to swipe ripe berries from my neighbors garden. Good job doing what you’re doing.”

- Eric in Cleveland

Pick of the Week

CG_SipChillRepeat_Email-Header

Our summer sweepstakes, “Sip, Chill & Repeat” is still happening! Consumers are invited to enter for the chance to win backyard hangout giveaways, health and wellness themed prizes, and more! We’ve already had over 35,000 submissions and look forward to MANY more.  

Check out some of the cool prizes included:

  • Refreshing Sips - 10-piece Mixology Bartender Kit & Yeti® Cooler
  • Cool Treats - Cuisinart 2-Quart Ice Cream Maker
  • Outdoor Summer Activities - Big Waves Corkcicle Tumbler
  • Wellness Accessories - InnoGear Essential Air Diffuser

Plus, we’ve partnered with the iBotta app to offer $0.35 off California Giant strawberries– any size. 🍓 This is a great way to reach a new audience and continue to encourage consumer to enjoy berries from California Giant.

download-ibotta-now

Leave a Comment

Subscribe

Recent Posts