The volume on strawberries in Florida is just beginning to pick up. "We are pretty much picking almost every day at this point in our farms in Zolfo," says Robert Wilhelm of Bova Fresh, LLC. "In Plant City, we're picking pretty much five days a week right now."
He says that for Bova Fresh, as it starts warming up, it will likely see better volume numbers in strawberries, and sizing will increase as well.
This is even following Hurricane Milton which made its way through the state in early October, though Wilhelm says it didn't have plants in the ground when that happened. "We're only about 2.5 weeks behind. We think that will start picking up pretty well right at the end of the year," he says, adding that last year at this time, it was only ahead by 6,400 boxes.
End of season
The region generally ships strawberries until March and local supply stays available generally until early April. "The weather dictates whether we stay in or not. If it gets too hot and rainy, then we move out," says Wilhelm.
As for demand, it has been strong though it's weakened somewhat this week. "We did see some softening in the market. Mexico has been crossing a bit of extra fruit these days and Florida is also producing more fruit," he says, adding that that is likely pressuring pricing.
For Bova Fresh, pricing on organic strawberries is high at between $40-$50 and its pricing on conventional is between $28-$30 which is similar to what pricing looked like last year at this time. "In the next couple of weeks, I think pricing will come off and move into the lower $20s. We'll need to push volume likely in the first two weeks of January," says Wilhelm. "We need to get ahead of it and be prepared."
For more information:
Robert Wilhelm
Bova Fresh
[email protected]