From a numbers point of view, the supply of strawberries from Florida is normal. This is even with some late crops that were flooded following Hurricane Milton which hit the state in early October. "It just depends on how much damage a grower had with the storm," says Gary Guynn of Guynn Family Produce Sales Inc., adding that some growers saw fields flooded while other growers saw no effects from the storm.
While Florida often begins its strawberry production around Thanksgiving with volume picking up in the first week of December, the storm pushed things back for some growers depending on how much they were affected. "There are some who have hardly picked anything yet and will be starting in a couple of weeks," says Guynn, adding that on average, production is about two weeks behind. "In the end, I do believe it will help everything stay steady until after Valentine's Day."
Some growers began with tray plants at that time and saw an early crop, though that didn't last and ultimately created a bit of a gap on Florida strawberries until the bare root plants came on with fruit. "So the first part of the season was all over the place with different farms," says Guynn.
Mexican berries in the market
That said, what is impacting demand for fruit from Florida is a heavy amount of Mexican strawberries coming into the U.S. "There's not a lot of business and retail pricing is high so it gets backed up," says Guynn, adding that while its retail price was around $20, pricing on strawberries from Mexico is $8-$10. "This is normally when we don't have a ton of volume and the price is higher."
Looking ahead, colder weather, as is typical for January, is on its way which will also slow down the crop. "This is also when we start ramping up our sales as volume starts to pick up and then we'll have to pump the brakes on that," says Guynn.
As for pricing, demand is expected to start picking up late this week and that could bring retail pricing down. "Our price has been very steady for pre-committed retail. If you had any extra fruit outside of what is committed, it's not good because there's so much Mexican fruit," says Guynn. He says when that colder weather emerges and volume slows down, then terminal market pricing will strengthen again because of that short supply. "I think it will yo-yo in the next couple of weeks. Extra fruit is cheaper right now but in a few weeks after the cold, it will be more expensive than some of the retail commitments."
For more information:
Gary Guynn
Guynn Family Produce Sales Inc.
[email protected]