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As we continue to experience spring-like weather and no chance of another El Nino storm is in sight, we will be experiencing peak strawberry production throughout the month of April in our Santa Maria and Oxnard growing regions.
We are keeping berries at the top of your shopper’s grocery lists by promoting them during our Blended and Splendid Spring Smoothie Sweepstakes, running now until April 22nd. With over 30,000 views after just one week, we know consumers are excited about this berry season!
For more information on our sweepstakes and to read about our Watsonville cooler’s “face lift”, scroll below!
Pictured above: a strawberry field in Watsonville, California
Oxnard - Temps were in the 70’s last week, and we experienced some strong wind gusts from the Santa Ana winds. But temps are expected to cool down to the mid 60’s during the day and low 50’s at night this week. Quality and color is good, with counts around 12-14 and 14-16. Labor is tight, but hasn’t been an issue for us.
Santa Maria - Daytime highs have been in the high 60’s/low 70’s with nighttime lows in the mid 40’s. Quality is good, with counts ranging from 12-16. We have experienced some issues with green tips and bronzing, but our quality control team is keeping that fruit out of the cooler.
Watsonville - Temps will be in the mid 60’s this week, with lows in the high 40’s. Most of our growers spent last week cleaning up their fields, but we expect most of our growers to be picking this week. For now, we are sending all of our fruit to Unikool in Salinas. We will start shipping fruit out of New West Cooling in Watsonville starting April 4th. There is no rain in sight.
Blueberries - We have transitioned to our domestic blueberry program, and we have conventional and organic blueberries available in limited supply. Over the next two weeks our volume should increase significantly. The domestic regions we are transitioning to include California, Georgia, and Florida, where significant production will resume mid-April through all of June.
Florida - Florida is done for the season.
Pictured below: organic blueberries in California
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.
California Giant’s New West Cooling facility in Watsonville received a significant "cooling face lift" this past week in preparation for the 2016 berry season.
New West Cooling received a new cooling tower and condenser system, replacing the original unit that was installed back in 1988 and had served the 35,000 sq ft facility for 27 years. This new system is expected to reduce cooling time by about 20 minutes per tunnel while using significantly less energy at the same time.
We watched as a large crane lifted the new equipment to its new home. The pieces removed weighed well over 50,000 pounds and was transported to a recycling facility.
Now until April 22nd, we are bringing you and your shoppers our Blended and Splendid Spring Smoothie Sweepstakes. Joining forces with three major partners, including Blendtec, Cabot Creamery, and Natural Delights Medjool Dates, we are driving shopper interests towards fresh California Giant berry purchases in your stores.
By entering our sweepstakes, shoppers are entered to win one of three Blendtec Blenders, plus fresh berries! Since the sweepstakes started, we’ve had an extremely high conversion rate; over 75% of shoppers who view the landing page fill out the form and enter the sweepstakes. Click on the picture below to enter today!
Check out our California Giant strawberries spotted at Deluxe Foods in Rio del Mar, California. Have you spotted our berries lately? Snap a picture on your smart phone and send it our way!
