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Watsonville-Salinas:
Santa Maria:
Weather has been cool and dry in Santa Maria - mostly in the 70s with nights in the low-upper 40s. We are expecting a warming trend heading into the weekend and into next week with temperatures to reach the 80s and no rain forecasted for the next 10 days. Quality among our conventional Portola is mixed, and we have a wide-variety of counts between 22-26 on early planted crops, middle planted crops are 18-22 with a clean load, and later-planted berries holding up well at 16-18 count. Our later planted crop is potentially peaking right now, and our only current concerns with this crop is slightly crooked fruit. Our conventional Monterey looks good but we are sorting through any crooked or small fruit to ensure clean packs - the counts are currently 24-26. Our organic fall crop is 30-32 with size decreasing as well. Yesterday was our last day of our organic spring crop and labor is continuing to be fine, and we're staying on schedule. We will begin planting our Fronteras variety on the 9th and the San Andreas/Monterey on the 19th of this month.
Blueberries:
Oregon:
This is our final week packing in Oregon. Quality is good overall. We transferred one load down to Watsonville on Monday and sent one load out direct to Canada yesterday. We’ll have a few pallets of six oz packed between now and the end of the week that will be sent out direct and that will finish our season. Thanks to everyone for all the help and support this year! It was a successful season in Oregon.
Mexico
We are also receiving small volumes out of Mexico. Quality has been good. Volumes will increase into November.
We are receiving small volumes of South American imports this week on both the East and West Coast. Quality is good. Berries are firm with good bloom and size. We’ll continue to receive small volumes from South America through October and November. Our large production from Chile will begin in December.
Mexico:
The immediate forecast indicates that we are going to have overcast mornings and sunny afternoons, with scattered light showers at night across most regions. That said, temperatures in most regions are different, with Tala and Irapuato in the 60s-90 degree range, Sayula, Jocotepec, Zamora, Los Reyes and Ziracuaretiro in the high 50s- high 70s range, and Maravatio a bit cooler in the high 40s at night and high 70s during the day.
Strawberries - The production from Maravatio is looking great and counts are mostly 22-24 with good quality. Production will rapidly increase moving forward.
Blackberries - The production has been affected by Hurricane Lorena and the tropical rains of Narda due to the absence of macro tunnels in the fields for protection. However, the fruit we are receiving has good counts and quality. With the right weather, we are expecting an increase in volume each week.
Blueberries - The conventional production will have a slow increase in the following weeks. The quality is currently excellent with great bloom and firmness. Our organic production is slightly delayed due to weather but should be back on track soon.
Raspberries - The crops in all raspberry growing regions have great quality and color. With the weather we have received, we have mild defects here and there but nothing concerning to growers and all being monitored closely. Both the conventional and organic production is increasing.
South America:
Peru - We are experiencing mild temperatures around 70 degrees this month which has allowed a steady ripening of fruit. The Biloxi variety looks good in origin and in shipments.
Argentina/Uruguay - Sapphire, Flicker, Ventura and Springhigh are rising their harvest volumes in Salto-Concordia. All varieties have shown good quality in origin. However, harvest will be interrupted due to rains the next few days. The first main shipment from Metan/Salto area will begin to pack this week, with Snowchaser as the main variety. We will be having rains until Friday, and temperatures will range all the way from 60s-90s with nights in the 50s.
Chile - The Chilean season begins! The first blueberries from Chile will be shipped this week from the Ovalle area with Ventura as the main variety. Mild temperatures last month have allowed a good ripening in this area with good fruit quality and finished product. Another harvest area will start soon in San Javier. We have had sunny days here mostly in the 60s-70s and nights in the 30s-50s range.
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Florida:
Planting is underway for the 2019-2020 Florida Brilliance strawberry crop in Lithia, FL. Weather has been good, mostly in the 90s, with temperatures to decrease next week into the 80s and nights in the 60s with chances of rain everyday next week. We are looking to start harvest in this region come the second week of November.
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.
We're back again this week with our 2019 Chef Ambassador and CGCI Top Chef Travis G. Peters in a part-two interview series. This week we're talking trends.
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CG MKTG: Thanks for joining me again this week Chef Travis! So, we're kicking off a new season and we're looking forward to all the berry-inspired menus and ways to use berries this fall. What food trends are you specifically excited about as we enter into the fall season? Anything we should be looking out for?
CHEF TRAVIS PETERS: To be totally honest, I don’t really follow trends. We just march to the beat of our own drum! But in my recent travels, I have noticed a huge influx of vegetable-centered dishes which is always exciting because for far too long, vegetables have mainly just been an 'afterthought' or an accompanying component! I love finding fun and new ways to use any type of produce because it is much more of a fun, adventurous, challenge to make produce the star of a dish especially if it comes with an animal protein!
CG MKTG: I love that! We are definitely starting to see fruits and veggies take center-stage on the plate, or even being incorporated into dynamic 'meat' alternatives like 'mushroom patties' for burgers, etc. Is there anything you think we should keep an eye out for?
CHEF TRAVIS PETERS: As for things to look out for, I hope and think 'bitter' is about to have its shining moment! Bitter is one of my favorite flavor profiles! It can be found all over the place - from dandelion, mustard or collard greens to other fruit and produce like green berries or bitter melon, different vegetables ashes, different wood smokes and spice rubs all offer such incredible depth of flavors, and when used correctly, can take any dish to the next level!
CG MKTG: I'll have to expand my palette and get a little more adventurous with incorporating bitter flavors! I think berries can certainly find their way into some of these components. Tell me, since taking home the title of Top Chef at the 2019 California Giant Chef Invitational, how has the competition contributed to your thinking 'out of the box' when cooking with produce, and specifically berries?
CHEF TRAVIS PETERS: Well, I like to think that we have always thought 'out of the box' in everything we do - including produce! However, winning the 2019 California Giant Chef Invitational definitely made me focus on berries in a whole different way! Once I returned home, my head was buzzing with all sorts of different savory berry uses that I hadn’t thought about before! Pickles, fermentations, dehydrations, curing and even smoking! It’s been so exciting experimenting & developing new recipes that have yielded some really surprising results!
Whether it's pops of sweet, savory, or in this case, bitter - we are so excited for what our 2019 Chef Ambassador Travis Peters has in store for us - we know it will be surprising and definitely worth salivating over! Heading to PMA Fresh Summit in Anaheim in just a few weeks? Stop by our booth #2961 to meet Chef Peters in person and pick his brain about his culinary creations.
Not only that, we'll have a special surprise at our booth that we'll unveil next week - stay tuned!
