Happy Cinco de Mayo! We are rapidly approaching promotable holidays ahead for Bobalu berries as we ease into the month of May.
Oxnard: Weather again this week provided us with a challenge as we had rain come through the region. Thankfully, it quickly moved on and was followed by mild wind to help dry out our fields, and the harvesting continues. We are still seeing a forecast of cooler daytime temperatures remaining here in Oxnard with the forecast showing highs lingering in the 60’s. Quality, sizing and flavor is still great with healthy plants continuing to push out new fruit. As you can see by the photos, the skies are still gray and we are using these bug vacuum machines to keep plants free from pests. With preventive measures like this, we should remain on track for the season to continue into the Memorial Day pull and beyond.
Santa Maria: While this region is seeing the same weather challenges as Oxnard, our volume is beginning to pick up here and we should see increases each week as we get closer to June. We are pleased with fruit quality, sizing and flavor and expect this region to help cover some of the demand for the Memorial Day holiday later this month. We are still expecting peak volume to hit some time in June, and hopefully with that we will see actual Spring and Summer conditions.
The California Strawberry Commission most recent Pink Sheet shows weekly statewide volume is still well behind previous years, but volume is increasing and we expect May numbers to improve. Cumulative volume is still about 20 million trays behind last year, and 10 million behind the 2021 season. However, we did top 6 million trays the last week in April finally, so we expect to see this upward trend continue.
