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Watsonville - Salinas:
We experienced light showers over the weekend but nothing severly damaging to our fruit at this time. As we look ahead into this week’s forecast, we anticipate showers the majority of this weekend, with clear skies ahead as Saturday approaches. The long-term forecast for this month looks wet, and the freeze we experienced a few weeks back has stalled the season for a while. Most growers industry-wide are not expecting to begin harvest until mid-April - with a once projected ‘early’ start to the season now looking like a delayed start to the season, but a lot of volume is still on the way.
Santa Maria:
Most of our California growing regions are experiencing showers this week – Santa Maria specifically expecting showers today through Saturday, with a potential break in rain on Wednesday. As we head into the weekend, temperatures will increase and rain will subside with partly cloudy days ahead. Despite the wet weekend, not much damage has been reported thus far and we will continue to be vigilant and monitor field conditions as the showers persist this week. Currently quality among San Andreas is full color and firm at 16-20 count. Fronteras is 18-20 and still looking great despite the frost a few weeks back. Organic Portola look strong, while organic Monterey has taken more of a hit from the recent weather conditions
Oxnard:
As in much of our other California growing regions, this region will experience some showers this week as well. In comparison to Santa Maria, Watsonville and Salinas – Oxnard is expected to only receive rain Tuesday and Friday of this week. Oxnard also had some rainfall over the weekend – with some ranches culling out some water damaged fruit, but so far damage is very minimal. Our grower explains that plants and fruit are in a ‘very healthy stage’ at this time, and it helps that we picked ahead during last week before the storms taking place this week. All fields are being closely monitored with these weather conditions, with fields loading up nicely with a lot of good-quality fruit among our varieties.
Mexico:
Most Mexico regions are experiencing days in the upper 80s and nighttime lows in the 50s. Maravatío is slightly cooler in the low 80s, but still warm nonetheless. No rain is forecasted for any of our regions, with warm, dry days ahead. Overall, quality is decent – strawberries are mostly 90% color, some fruit looking dark with overripe issues here and there but the majority of our growers are still picking good-quality fruit. Counts are 24-28, but volume will be decreasing every week depending on our quality tolerance from warmer temperatures. We are hoping to continue packing good-quality fruit through the first week of April. Blackberries are showing little regression from heat, with minimal issues aside from that – counts are 30-33 in 6 oz. clamshells. Raspberries are also a little darker in color due to warmer days, with sizing looking smaller as well. Blueberries are experiencing minimal defects and look good as usual.
Florida:
We had light showers this morning, with the rest of the week ranging in the high 70s low 80s the rest of the week and into the weekend. We are hopeful for temperatures to decrease in the coming weeks to firm up fruit. That said, quality looks decent and counts among Radiance are 20-24 – mostly 20, and 14-15 among Sensation with good size and good quality. We are staying vigilant on packing, and making sure we are being consistent on packs and sizing.
Blueberries:
Our Georgia blues received some frost last week with some chilly mornings. However, we ran water and crops did not undergo any significant damage. We are still on track to start harvesting toward the second week of April. Our Oxnard blues had some damage from recent weather conditions but are on the rebound and looking good in quality.
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.
Haven’t you heard?! This year marks our 5th Annual Tour de Fresh! We are rapidly filling up our rider roster for this year’s Tour commencing in Kirkwood, California and ending in Monterey, but are still accepting more rider spots. If you are interested in participating and riding, or know someone that might be, you can register to become a rider here to join all the fun!
Without our generous sponsors, Tour de Fresh wouldn’t be possible – and certainly not a milestone like year 5! We couldn’t be more grateful to our TDF supporters that have helped to raise over $600,000 and placing over 180 salad bars in schools. In addition to the Salad Bars to Schools campaign supported by Tour de Fresh, The United Fresh Start Foundation needs us industry-wide to support our communities across the country to bring awareness to the importance of bringing fresh fruits and vegetables to our youth.
Affiliated with the United Fresh Produce Association, the United Fresh Start Foundation focuses exclusively on increasing children’s access to fresh produce working in schools, in communities, and with the produce industry to create an environment in which every child grows up with fresh fruits and vegetables everywhere they live, learn and play. Learn more about the Foundation, and support our mission with a contribution today!
Last week we officially announced the news about our First Annual Chef Invitational Challenge through the trade press and our California Giant social media channels – and we couldn’t be more excited to team up with our foodservice partners to select some of the best chefs in the industry to compete in this chef showdown! The challenge is set to take place this summer at Tehama Golf Club in Monterey, and the winner of the Chef Showdown will receive the title of Top Chef in addition to an array of prizes.
Not only is this event an incentive for our industry chefs to compete and bring their A-Game – but it’s a great opportunity to collaborate and build upon our relationships with key members of the foodservice industry and their chefs, while utilizing these delicious, innovative recipe creations for future content use.
Want more details about California Giant’s First Annual Chef Invitational? You can learn more about the promotion by contacting Tom Smith at tsmith@calgiant.com
This Albertsons in Oregon City, Oregon has some of the finest Cal Giant blues!
