Despite growers combating freezing temperatures earlier this year, the California strawberry crop is poised for record production, according to the California Strawberry Commission.
“We’ve caught up and are well ahead of last year’s production. We’re shipping around 7 million trays a week out of California, and we expect to be between 6 and 7 million trays a week from now all the way well into summer,” said Chris Christian, the commission’s vice president of marketing, earlier this month.
Retailers and shoppers will benefit from the availability.
“Prices will be good for consumers. They will not be so good for growers, and growers will find it a challenging year this year in terms of their own livelihood and their own ability to keep their family businesses going.”
As reported by SN last week, strawberries are the most consumed in the berry category, responsible for 4.4% of the produce department sales in the 52 weeks ending Feb. 23, according to the Nielsen Perishables Group.
Although there was a cold weather snap in January in California, the commission rightly predicted there would be little impact on supply as it was the low part of the season.
