Sustainability

Preservation

We are committed to protecting the land where we farm and the people that work with us to ensure we provide for the next generations that will continue to farm here. It is our job to feed the planet and do it sustainably, and we recognize food waste is an area we can have a positive impact on today and into the future. Therefore, we harvest all the ripe fruit off our plants so any strawberries not going into the fresh clamshell are still used for the processed market. This approach we use on all our farms reduces food waste, and keeps the fields clean, reducing pest and disease pressure on farm. Read more about how we are preserving our precious resources.

We redesigned our packaging and reduced 11,000 miles of gas emissions in one year with freight. We are also now utilizing 95% post-consumer recycled plastic in our clamshells along with fully recyclable labels.

The water used in our processing facility is pumped from our own private wells to wash the berries before processing, then the expelled water is reclaimed, treated to meet EPA standards, and put back into our farms as dust abatement for our roads. This allows us to reclaim 95% of the water we use.

Irrigation water on our farms is controlled through an internal water management system where we use real time water meters in our fields to check the saturation of the soil allowing us to basically water only those areas that need it versus scheduled watering of an entire field.

Bobalu berries is diligently working toward Zero Waste. We have converted to digital programs in both our processing facility and our fresh farming operation. The zero waste measures have already saved the company in waste services, staff hours, materials and overall costs. We will achieve 100% zero waste in 2023.

Pests present a daily challenge in our fields and our best defense every day are living allies called persimilis, predator mites to help combat harmful pests. These helpful predators are released into our fields serving as biological controls to mites that can damage our plants and ultimately, the fruit before we even get the chance to harvest.

With drone technology the persimilis can be released in a uniform way quickly and efficiently which improves performance throughout the field while reducing labor.