Visit Our Other Sites
Let the holidays begin! November is the month where retail grocery sales are off the charts and shopping cart traffic is at its peak. We hope to maintain a small space of that shopping cart as it goes through the checkout lane, with some berries making it on Thanksgiving menus. Right after the turkey hangover, holidays are in full swing with parties, events, and celebrations that will rapidly take us right into 2017. Below is our best guess at what is happening with our berry market as we continue to ship from our 2016 plantings and begin our new 2017 season in some areas.
For more information, including crop and weather reports, please scroll below.
What a difference a couple of weeks makes in how the plants have grown! Florida is expecting to harvest small amounts over the next couple of weeks with volume picking up by early December. The fields look great and the berries are growing.
Mexico: Mexico continues to see improvements in weather conditions which is resulting in great quality and increased strawberry volume in the weeks ahead. Daytime highs are in the 80’s and nighttime lows in the 50’s and volume increases are significant each week as we begin to approach December. Currently berry size is still ranging in the 30-32 count but our field team is forecasting that the fruit is rapidly size up and plans to have stems available for the holidays. Mexico is also rapidly ramping up volume on blackberries with promotable volume and looks forward to a long season ahead as consumer demand increases on this berry variety. This is perfect timing to begin to promote blackberries now and all the way through the holidays.
Santa Maria: Now that the October rain has passed, the fields in this district are getting back to normal production following a clean-up last week in strawberry fields. Conventional counts range between 22-24 ct and organics are ranging between 26-28 count fruit. Volume should be consistent for the next couple of weeks hopefully getting through the month of November and then ground will need to be prepped or turned over to new crops for planting. There is some planting already occurring in this region, but still some fall crop production in play.
Watsonville/Salinas: Salinas is still harvesting small amounts due to mild weather forecasted for the next ten days. However, Watsonville is finishing with planting this week for the 2017 spring harvest. With the days getting shorter and nights getting colder, the season will most likely come to an end here after Thanksgiving. Labor has been good for the planting season and the end of the harvest in this area which has helped keep everything on schedule.
-174765-edited.jpg?width=600&name=planting%2011-16)-174765-edited.jpg "planting 11-16)-174765-edited.jpg")
Blueberries: Even though our Argentina & Uruguay blueberry farms are passed their peak in production, we are still receiving good volumes through November from these regions. This extended season is helping to provide a solid transition into the Chilean season which appears to be early with steady production expected starting the first of December. We also look forward to steady organic blueberry production starting in January this year in Oxnard.
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.
As we all shift gears with growing regions and berry availability, we are squarely focused on shoppers and maintaining demand for our berries through the upcoming holiday season. Our communication is emphasizing blueberries and blackberries in recipes and ultimately on the dining room table. Be sure to keep these two richly colored, festive and nutritious berries on display for holiday menus. Our social media channels will be highlighting all the ways to include our fresh blueberries and blackberries in recipes from breakfast, to dinner to cocktails for the next several weeks.
Blackberry & Acorn Squash Salad
.jpg?width=600&height=900&name=blackberry%20squash%20salad-2%20(1).jpg)
.jpg?width=600&height=900&name=glutten%20free%20blueberry%20pizza%206%20(1).jpg)
We talked early this year about all the tours we host for customers throughout the harvest season to help share our story from field to destination, but last week we took education to a new level. We hosted a class of 6th graders who were learning about where their food comes from and the labor-intensive nature of getting strawberries from the field to their plate. Instead of watching harvesting, we had the opportunity to show them what happens from the very beginning of a crop, planting. They witnessed the fact that every strawberry plant in the ground is planted by hand from the very people that will end of harvesting the same field months later when the crop comes in. These 6th graders got the chance to plant their own plants, track exactly where they are on the ranch and will be back in the spring to see them produce berries for the first time. It’s not too often we get the chance to focus on berries in the field with a group, long before there are actually berries. This adventure turned into a math and science class as we challenged them on guessing how many plants per acre and how many people it takes to harvest a crop. They are all headed to Washington DC on their next big field trip and will be armed with questions about labor shortages and guest worker programs. It’s always great to have a chance to empower young people with new information and build curiosity.
Our holiday promotions will include recipes, e-books, ‘berry stocking stuffers’, and a Holiday Cookbook featuring our consumer favorite recipes of 2016, secret California Giant family recipes, and heartwarming stories shared by California Giant kids and grandkids. Here is a sneak peak of the cover, with more to come.
