October 1, 2018

Happy Monday!

It's officially October and it's starting to feel like Fresh Summit season. PMA Fresh Summit is just a few short weeks away, and we have a lot to discuss with our trade partners at the show. Not to mention, a spooky surprise you won't want to miss at our booth #2159. This week, we're anticipating the chances of showers in our California growing regions - but time will tell between tonight and tomorrow - nonetheless, fruit quality looks strong, and all active growing regions are producing a solid crop. We look forward to a month full of fall inspiration and kicking off our Scary Berries promotion next week in light of the Halloween holiday.

For more information, including crop and weather reports, please scroll below.

Crop Updates

Watsonville - Salinas: 

Weather has been similar to Santa Maria – with cool mornings and clear, temperate afternoons in the 70s. We did not get the warming trend we were anticipating last week, which was good news for our fruit. This week we may have showers in this region on Tuesday, and are actively checking weather reports as we anticipate this wet weather. Temperatures will still be in the 60s-70s as moderate temperatures remain. Quality is still pretty good, and color is light the first half of the week. Counts are 22-26 among conventional, and 28-32 in organics. Bushberries are looking great, and volume is declining very slowly each week, but still producing good numbers and fruit.

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Santa Maria

Mornings have consisted of temperatures in the mid-high 50s, and warming up into the 70s during the day with clear skies. This week, we may be in for some rainfall – with a decent percentage of showers taking place Tuesday night-Wednesday. We are carefully watching weather reports as we anticipate this wet weather in the forecast. Our conventional fall crop, Portola, looks strong, with counts 18-22, some 22-24. Defects in this variety include minor bruising in the afternoons, but nothing too concerning. Monterey is showing strong quality at 18-20. Our organic San Andreas is slightly smaller at 27-30, and a nice salmon-orange color. Organic Portola looks nice at 16-18 count and no issues with quality. Blackberries look excellent and are caught up on harvest. Labor looks good, ranches are bedded up and fumigated, with planting to take place the week of October 15th

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Mexico:

Temperatures have been in the upper 70s with lows in the 60s. There have been 50 percent chances of rain mostly during the nights - but it doesn't seem to be affecting fruit quality. Blackberries are nice and firm, and being packed in Ziracuaretiro. There is minimal red mite damage - and packs look neat. Overall, crops look clean despite rainfall in the evenings.
 

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Blueberries:

We still have a little bit of our Aurora variety left in the fields. We finished up picking for the Oregon season this weekend. Some farms are already switching focus from harvesting the berries to taking care of the plants. Already starting basal pruning, spreading sawdust, etc. in preparation for the next season. Our primary harvest regions are now Mexico and Central America.

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Florida: 

Temperatures have been in the 90s during the day, and low 70s at night and as we head into this month, temperatures will start to slowly decline. We have been having scattered showers, and plants are looking good so far. We have plenty of labor and crews have been planting until about 1pm everyday. We plan to harvest both organic and conventional the first week of November – with our timeline slightly ahead of the industry. We look forward to harvesting our Radiance, Sensation and Brilliance varieties. 

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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

News
We have officially entered into the month of October and it's Fresh Summit season! Want to know what our spooky surprise will be at the show? You'll have to stop by to say hi and find out for yourself! We'll see you in a few short weeks at booth #2159.
 
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Reaching Consumers
Have you heard? Our Scary Berries promotion is kicking off next week and consumers have the chance to win between October 10th -November 7th. With this giveaway, our goal is to drive brand engagement and awareness by encouraging berry and Halloween enthusiasts to create and share their Halloween-themed and #scaryberries photos on social media! By participating, consumers have a chance to win one of 5 Amazon gift cards. All participants have to is follow these easy steps:
 
1. Follow @calgiantberries, and post costume photos (or post photos of their kids, or pets!)
2. Or... dress up their California Giant berries and post the photo onto Instagram with #scaryberries and tagging @calgiantberries.
 
That's it! We look forward to seeing some creativity stream through as we continue to promote berries through this spooky, seasonal holiday - winners will be announced after Halloween.
 

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Consumer Spotlight
A special note from Connie in Iowa - our berries are perfect for jams and jellies during the fall and winter! 
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Pick of the Week
Organics on organics at this Gilroy Costco! 
 
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  Send us your own "pick of the week" and we will feature it here!

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