Naturipe is celebrating blueberries during the month of February. Its FeBLUEary campaign is now in its fifth consecutive year and highlights the first peak of imported blueberries for the 2022 season. 

Last year, FeBLUEary experienced a shift to adapt to the way consumers were buying their groceries. As consumers relied on e-commerce, Naturipe met consumers where they were by bringing the campaign to their favorite online grocery shopping platforms.

As strawberry season begins to unfold in California, so does the beginning of volunteer season by the Bobalu staff.  Typically, volunteering is done without much fanfare, just because it is the right thing to do.  

The last weekend of January is expected to see temperatures flirting with freezing in Florida’s strawberry production area near Plant City. Combined with rain during the Jan. 23-29 week, strawberry production is expected to be tight heading into the Valentine’s Day pull.

Strawberries have been tight for the past couple of months. This has made it difficult for retailers to meet their berry sales versus last year. Florida has been the main supplier thus far, placing pressure on the demand. But there is some relief in sight as California and Mexico will start to improve by harvesting more volume.

This year Bobalu Berry Farms will celebrate its 60th anniversary, but after expanding on multiple fronts the Jones family views 2021 as the real milestone year, completing the transition to a fully integrated company.  

“Last year was the year we did all the heavy lifting with software integration and building a strong team for the future," said RC Jones, managing partner. "2022 will be a year where we are fully established and ready to roll.”

Persistent rains in California last week created a limited supply of various crops out west. According to Markon Cooperative reports, there will be little if any harvesting of strawberries from Oxnard and Santa Maria until the week of Jan. 10. Growers are transferring Mexican-grown fruit to supplement their California shipments through January, though transfers were limited last week as a result of Christmas and New Year’s Eve/Day holiday closures.