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Strawberries
Watsonville- Salinas:
The California coast experienced continued mild temperatures averaging in the low to mid 70s with overnight lows in mid-50s accompanied by a moist layer of fog. Unfortunately, these wet nights have had a big effect on the fruit quality with increased pin rot and decay issues – being reported industry wide. Quality has been hit-or-miss between the recent waves of heat, wet fog with increased decay issues and an industry wide labor shortage.
While this may sound negative, our growers and their awesome teams are working very hard every day to clean up the plants and take every measure to pack high quality sellable units.
Crop Counts: Conventional: 20-24; Organic: 28-32
Santa Maria:
Like the Monterey Bay area, Santa Maria has seen very similar weather patterns. The average temperatures have been welcome, but the wet marine layer has caused increased decay and lygus pressure across the valley. The Fall Crop production is still a few weeks out, and growers and their teams are doing a great job of sorting out any poor-quality fruit and cleaning up the plants to set them up for success. We see nice flower sets on all ranches. There is a heavy focus on protecting that flower from the heavy lygus pressure around the valley. Counts still vary depending on the block for both Spring and Fall crops.
Crop Counts: Conventional: 16-18-20 / 26-30; Organic 26-28/30
Blueberries
Oregon:
Growers expect to continue harvest light volume out of Oregon through week 41. Quality is mostly good with the occasional fair quality reports due to some soft and shriveled berries that QA is working hard to keep out of the packs.
Mexico:
Blueberries out of Mexico continue to steadily increase each week and will do so through October. Quality is very good, with good size, bloom and flavor being reported.
South America:
Sea containers and air shipments of South American blueberries are beginning to ship out and arrive into the U.S. Upon send off, our growers in Peru, Uruguay and Argentina are all reporting great appearance, good size and color. Weather conditions are positive in all areas this week, which will allow for ideal field ripening and harvest conditions. Overall South American volume will ramp up in late October-early/November, as volume from Peru and Chile begins to increase.
Raspberries
Watsonville-Salinas:
The raspberries out of Watsonville are still struggling to rebound from the previous two heatwaves. Coupled with labor being very short, growers are leaving blocks behind to focus on packing best quality fruit as a priority.
Mexico:
Our growers in Mexico are very happy with the progress of the raspberry fields. Production continues to increase. Plants are healthy, bountiful and producing high-quality fruit.
Blackberries
Watsonville-Salinas:
Blackberry production out of Watsonville is expected to be steady through late October. The plants and their output of good quality fruit seem to have fared very well against all of the recent elements.
Mexico:
Mexico production of blackberries is on schedule to begin harvesting in very light volumes beginning next week and is expected to quickly increase in volume week over week through October and remain steady for rest of year.
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 employees have been planning & organizing a Skirt Steak BBQ lunch every year for the past 15 years. Traditional fundraising activities such as this have been restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has affected our community’s non-profit organizations in overwhelming ways. Assistance is needed more than ever, please consider donating to this worthwhile cause.
A berry sweet message from one of our Kroger shoppers:
"We went to Kroger today to specifically buy organic strawberries they had advertised. These are the best strawberries I've had this year. So fresh, tasty and juicy. Praying for an end to the California wildfires and for better forest management. Delicious Strawberries!"
