Strawberry volume appears up and more acres planted
Strawberry volume appears up and more acres planted
The volume of California-grown strawberries may well exceed last year's total, but that is owed to a greater number of acres planted, industry experts say. As of Aug. 4, it appeared that yields for the year would be down compared to last year.
The Southern California season got off in fits and starts for many growers, with rain delaying plantings. Once a company falls behind enough, it can never really catch up in the affected region, said Cindy Jewell, director of marketing for Watsonville, CA-based California Giant.
Craig Moriyama, based in Salinas, CA, as vice president of strawberry production for Naples, FL-based Global Berry Farms, said that the rains "took a lot of production out," especially in Southern California. The state has experienced rainfall more than 200 percent above normal for the year to date. As a result, companies did not enjoy the typical boom for Easter and Mother's Day. Though spring rain caused some delayed starts in Southern California, it held some advantages for the strawberry crop in Northern California that harvests later.
Statewide, average strawberry pricing has been higher than last year, Mr. Moriyama said.
Dan Crowley, sales manager for Watsonville, CA-based Well-Pict Berries Inc., said that some industrywide increase in volume is owed to increases from "marginal growing areas. "The best berry growers are on the best berry ground, Mr. Crowley said. For a few years now, Well-Pict has been able to boast of harvesting California strawberries 12 months a year, though December and January volumes are light by comparison to the other months.
Well-Pict bucked an apparent trend in lower yields this year with "higher than ever yields in its northern crop -- the Watsonville area and Santa Maria -- Mr. Crowley said. As of Aug. 3, the company's strawberry volumes statewide to date were about 25 percent above last year.
Well-Pict introduced a new strawberry variety this season in its northern districts and plans to increase the volume of that berry next year, Mr. Crowley said. California Giant, Global Berry Farms and Watsonville-based Sundance Berry Farms are among the companies that are testing the sweet Albion strawberry, a new variety developed at the University of California-Davis geared toward the northern growing regions of Watsonville and Salinas, including Santa Maria. At Cal Giant, the company mixed some Albion in with Diamante strawberries that it marketed this year.
Sundance grows strawberries in Coachella, Irvine, Oxnard, Santa Maria and in the Watsonville-Salinas area and also boasts of having California strawberries 52 weeks of the year, as does Cal Giant and industry leader Driscoll Strawberry Associates Inc.
Rick Smith, director of produce and floral for the 80 or so stores in the Modesto, CA-based Save Mart Supermarkets Inc. chain, said that he likes to give strawberries a "hot price point on the cover of store fliers to give strawberries "good exposure and build incremental displays.
The chain's promotion of strawberries is good for the grower-shippers and helps "drive my business, Mr. Smith said. Strawberries dominate 75-80 percent of sales in the chain's berry category, driving the category, he said.
About mid-July through August on the West Coast, blueberries come into play at retail, Mr. Smith said. The six-ounce blueberry pack is the stalwart, though pints, quarts and two-and-a-half pounders sell well, too, he said. The Northwest blueberry season has a seven- or eight-week run, and Mr. Smith said that he advertises them as a standalone item. For raspberries and blackberries, he advertises them together, he said, adding that blackberries are only about 50 percent as popular with consumers as raspberries.
Storewide data for the months of April, May and June showed the berry category holding the sixth position in Save Mart's produce department, Mr. Smith said, behind the value-added salad category (which includes such things as fresh-cut fruit), tomatoes, bananas, melons and apples.
On another front, in late July, the California Strawberry Commission board of directors approved $500,000 for research focused on reducing emissions from fumigants. This is a new research initiative and part of the CSCs ongoing production research program. Preliminary research conducted by the University of California and the United States Department of Agriculture has found that promising new technology and production practices may enable growers to significantly reduce emissions from fumigants used for pre-plant soil treatments.
These methods include the use of high barrier and virtually impermeable films in combination with changes in field preparation such as sealing the soil surface during fumigation with water or fertilizers. By reducing fumigant emissions, growers should be able to improve the efficacy of fumigants while reducing the amount of fumigants used on and emitted from their fields.
The CSC will work with researchers, manufacturers and regulatory organizations such as the California Department of Pesticide Regulation to coordinate the development and implementation of emission-reduction procedures for fumigants in the coming year.
(A full report on fall berries appears in the Aug. 15 issue of The Produce News.)
The Southern California season got off in fits and starts for many growers, with rain delaying plantings. Once a company falls behind enough, it can never really catch up in the affected region, said Cindy Jewell, director of marketing for Watsonville, CA-based California Giant.
Craig Moriyama, based in Salinas, CA, as vice president of strawberry production for Naples, FL-based Global Berry Farms, said that the rains "took a lot of production out," especially in Southern California. The state has experienced rainfall more than 200 percent above normal for the year to date. As a result, companies did not enjoy the typical boom for Easter and Mother's Day. Though spring rain caused some delayed starts in Southern California, it held some advantages for the strawberry crop in Northern California that harvests later.
Statewide, average strawberry pricing has been higher than last year, Mr. Moriyama said.
Dan Crowley, sales manager for Watsonville, CA-based Well-Pict Berries Inc., said that some industrywide increase in volume is owed to increases from "marginal growing areas. "The best berry growers are on the best berry ground, Mr. Crowley said. For a few years now, Well-Pict has been able to boast of harvesting California strawberries 12 months a year, though December and January volumes are light by comparison to the other months.
Well-Pict bucked an apparent trend in lower yields this year with "higher than ever yields in its northern crop -- the Watsonville area and Santa Maria -- Mr. Crowley said. As of Aug. 3, the company's strawberry volumes statewide to date were about 25 percent above last year.
Well-Pict introduced a new strawberry variety this season in its northern districts and plans to increase the volume of that berry next year, Mr. Crowley said. California Giant, Global Berry Farms and Watsonville-based Sundance Berry Farms are among the companies that are testing the sweet Albion strawberry, a new variety developed at the University of California-Davis geared toward the northern growing regions of Watsonville and Salinas, including Santa Maria. At Cal Giant, the company mixed some Albion in with Diamante strawberries that it marketed this year.
Sundance grows strawberries in Coachella, Irvine, Oxnard, Santa Maria and in the Watsonville-Salinas area and also boasts of having California strawberries 52 weeks of the year, as does Cal Giant and industry leader Driscoll Strawberry Associates Inc.
Rick Smith, director of produce and floral for the 80 or so stores in the Modesto, CA-based Save Mart Supermarkets Inc. chain, said that he likes to give strawberries a "hot price point on the cover of store fliers to give strawberries "good exposure and build incremental displays.
The chain's promotion of strawberries is good for the grower-shippers and helps "drive my business, Mr. Smith said. Strawberries dominate 75-80 percent of sales in the chain's berry category, driving the category, he said.
About mid-July through August on the West Coast, blueberries come into play at retail, Mr. Smith said. The six-ounce blueberry pack is the stalwart, though pints, quarts and two-and-a-half pounders sell well, too, he said. The Northwest blueberry season has a seven- or eight-week run, and Mr. Smith said that he advertises them as a standalone item. For raspberries and blackberries, he advertises them together, he said, adding that blackberries are only about 50 percent as popular with consumers as raspberries.
Storewide data for the months of April, May and June showed the berry category holding the sixth position in Save Mart's produce department, Mr. Smith said, behind the value-added salad category (which includes such things as fresh-cut fruit), tomatoes, bananas, melons and apples.
On another front, in late July, the California Strawberry Commission board of directors approved $500,000 for research focused on reducing emissions from fumigants. This is a new research initiative and part of the CSCs ongoing production research program. Preliminary research conducted by the University of California and the United States Department of Agriculture has found that promising new technology and production practices may enable growers to significantly reduce emissions from fumigants used for pre-plant soil treatments.
These methods include the use of high barrier and virtually impermeable films in combination with changes in field preparation such as sealing the soil surface during fumigation with water or fertilizers. By reducing fumigant emissions, growers should be able to improve the efficacy of fumigants while reducing the amount of fumigants used on and emitted from their fields.
The CSC will work with researchers, manufacturers and regulatory organizations such as the California Department of Pesticide Regulation to coordinate the development and implementation of emission-reduction procedures for fumigants in the coming year.
(A full report on fall berries appears in the Aug. 15 issue of The Produce News.)
