Continued rise in consumer demand for berries comes as no surprise to Stuart Gilfenbain of Eclipse Berry Farms LLC. How many other products taste like dessert, offer a good profit margin to retailers and have health benefits that exceed simple nutrition?

No wonder consumers are clamoring for more and more berries.

“We’re delivering healthy fruit that’s known to be high in antioxidants: red is good,” Mr. Gilfenbain said. “Consumers are now aware of health matters more than ever when they’re shopping. It’s a win-win situation.”

Well-Pict Inc. in Watsonville, CA, introduced a pair of new proprietary berries at last year’s Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit show in October and is now bringing those new varieties to the market for the fall season.

The new Well-Pict strawberry is genetically bred to produce larger berries later in the season, and a new raspberry delivers superior flavor along with larger fruit.

After a “weird” summer weather-wise, Red Blossom Sales Inc. of Fresno, CA, has its fall berry program on track, according to Craig Casca, chief executive officer and director of sales.

“The weather has been kind of weird for the whole summer,” Mr. Casca told The Produce News in late July. “It’s slowed things down, which is good for the plants; on the bad side, it’s made berry size smaller than we’d like. But in the long run we’re going to have better berries for a longer period of time.”

While many produce companies are thinking about developing a social media presence, California Giant Berry Farms in Watsonville, CA, has embraced new forms of engaging with customers on-line, and the results have been rewarding.

The folks at Fresherized Foods in Fort Worth, TX, manufacturer of Wholly Guacamole, are “extremely excited” that consumers “are finally getting it, that avocados are a healthy fruit,” according to Tracey Altman, vice president of Marketing.

Wholly Guacamole is produced using an ultra-high pressure process that “allows us to offer an all-natural guacamole or avocado product without any additives or preservatives,” said Cindy Wong, vice president of foodservice, in an interview last year.

“Florida avocados are seasonal,” said Bill Brindle, vice president of sales for Brooks Tropicals LLC in Homestead, FL, July 22. “They start off in July and run pretty much through December, so we are right at the beginning of our season.”

The season gets off to a quick start with volume building quickly, so that “we get up to our peak volumes” by August, he said. “We are pretty much going to be peaking for at least the next six weeks.” It is “a very nice crop coming in,” with about a 40 percent increase in volume over 2010.