Santa Maria Update
Looks like we all got caught a little by surprise last week with more volume than anticipated. This was a statewide issue and as you know the pipeline is full as a result. We are still harvesting a lot of fruit as our day neutral varieties sustain peak numbers through June. This is perfect timing for the upcoming July 4th consumer demand. Our focus remains on quality and staying on our harvest rotation.
We are also keeping our eye on demand as inflation concerns rise throughout the country. Thankfully, strawberries are still a mainstream fruit item that consumers are enjoying and continuing to put in their shopping carts. With peak volume in the marketplace, and lower retail prices, consumers see the value and we look forward to our strawberries being on holiday menus.
Value comes with quality, flavor and availability, and our Santa Maria fruit has all that and consistent volume to carry us through July to support your promotions. Keep us front and center in the department to draw shoppers in.
As you can see from these photos taken this week, there is a lot of beautiful fruit here now and more on the way.
Industry Update
According to the most recent Strawberry Commission Retail Newsletter, almost 71% of households purchase strawberries. Also, strawberries are the second most purchased fruit, according to the Packer Fresh Trends report. All good news as we enter into July Fourth holiday shopping. Strawberries are everyone’s ‘Red’ in their “Red, White and Blue” desserts.
The classic flag cake is our favorite and will most likely be on many picnic tables for the big day.
