There is no shortage of strawberries at the moment between several growing regions, including Florida, central Mexico, and California. "They've been averaging about 7 million cartons harvested a week, which is a pretty good number for March," says Steve Johnston of G.W. Palmer & Co. Inc.
Florida: The state is still producing strawberries, though the fruit is a bit smaller. "The temperatures haven't been that warm. Their overnight lows are manageable, so they're still harvesting a good berry," says Johnston.
Central Mexico: Crossings into Texas are just finishing up, with only a small number of crossings still taking place.
California: Supply in Baja is peaking this week. Meanwhile, Oxnard-Santa Maria is gearing up, and Salinas-Watsonville will be starting its production by the end of this week or next week.
© G.W. Palmer
All of that is making for an adequate supply of strawberries for the near future. "It's potentially record-breaking high temperatures in Santa Maria and Salinas-Watsonville this week, which should bring on the crop," says Johnston. "There is some really nice large fruit in California. You can get a 10-12 count berry in a one-pounder, which is really big. When the fruit is that big, that means you'll pack more cartons because of that size."
Growing conditions in California have been ideal, says Johnston, starting with two years prior of really good rain. This year has seen intermittent rains, though some more recent heavy rainfall has caused some quality issues on some berries. Johnston says given the plentiful supply, those berries have been cleared out. "There is no shortage of strawberries out here in California today. They pick off the berries that were rained on, and there are still many more flowers and new berries to harvest," he says, adding that at this point, it looks like California's rainy season is almost over.
As for demand, it has been on the softer side for strawberries, thanks largely to recent cold temperatures across the country. "It's really affected business, so demand has been sluggish for strawberries. There's been no pazazz to the market so far," says Johnston. "I'm curious about the economy right now with all the doubt that's going on. Who knows if consumers want to spend $5-$6 for a one-pound pack of strawberries."
This is leaving pricing on the weaker side between $9-$10 right now, and aggressive pricing will likely be called for to move the plentiful supply on the way from California. "They need to make it reasonable for the consumer to move all of these strawberries," says Johnston, adding that there will likely be promotions for Easter on strawberries, though the holiday is notably later in April this year.
For more information:
Steve Johnston
G.W. Palmer & Co., Inc.
Tel: +1 (831) 753-6578
sjohnston@gwpalmer.net
http://www.gwpalmer.net/