With some Oxnard growers adding new plantings in the early summer months for late fall production, California strawberries are now a year-round crop.
It wasn't too long ago that March 1 signaled the beginning of the season and production began to wind down in late summer with only a smattering of berries available in September and October. But new varieties and new plantings have extended the season on both ends and now the new crop of berries begins
in December, with last year's crop still shipping in November.
The volume of December berries are certainly dependent upon the weather, but berries are available nonetheless. And there are truly promotable quantities, especially for California retailers, in January. Rain, or the threat of it, still makes for interesting winter/early spring promotions but for those retailers able to change directions quickly, strawberry promotions are possible earlier.,.and later then ever.
Strawberries
Availability:
With summer plantings in Oxnard
designed to fill the late fall gap,
California strawberries are now
available every month of the year.
Merchandising Tip:
Location Location...Location.
Large displays in orimary location
as 60% of sales are impulse buys.
Packaging Options:
Offer variety of packages and
your sales will increase by 17%.
Advertising Tip:
Change the ad to feature different
packaging options throughout the season.
Fast Fact:
97% of consumers purchase strawberries
during the year.
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Though the number of acres in 2001 is down slightly from last year, it is in line with historical figures. Dominique Hansen, communications director for the California Strawberry Commission, said growers saw acreagejump up a bit last year to 26,340 acres. This year's number of 25,142 acres is about the same as the last five years. She said the slight reduction should not impact volume as the industry is still expecting peak shipping weeks to be about the same as always. And that means that during the heavy April, May and June period when all districts are shipping, a steady diet of five million trays per week will be sent to market. The total number of berries sent to market when ail is said and done should be around the 80 million tray figure.
The Camarosa variety has a stranglehold or the Southerr California deal. Almost all acres in the south arc planted in this variety, which produces exceptionally large fruit. In fact, the Camarosa variety is the number one produced variety in California accounting for about 44 per cent of total acreage.
With regard to promotions, the Strawberry Commission has
couple of nationwide efforts such as its first day of spring promotion with television weathermen but most ot its dollars are spent on customized promotions with each retailer. Tim Hallows western region marketing manager, indicates in March that he had already set up individual promotions with all the Southern California chains. Each promotion is different, depending upon the needs of the retailer.
Though no Southern California retailers are taking advantage of it this year, Hallows said one popular program is the commission's training effort aimed at produce managers. 'We bring all the produce managers together from a particular chain and bring them up to speed on the strawberry industry,~ he said.
Hallows said the discussions centers around car and handling and merchandising tips. "Our goal is to educate these produce managers so they can do a better job selling strawberries."
For those interested in receiving the information without the benefit of the seminar, he said all of the information is on the California Strawberry Commission website www.calstrawberry.com
With regard to merchandising, Hallows said the key to a successful strawberry display is location. "Location. . . Location. .. Location, he said. "Sixty percent of strawberry sales are impulse buys so it makes a great deal of difference where the display is set up. It needs to be in a primary location."
Hallows said tie-in advertising works with shortcakes, chocolate dips and whip cream, "but you have to be careful not to overpower the strawberries with the tie in items."
Hallows said one thing to remember is that 97 percent of consumers use strawberries during the year so any promotion will appeal to virtually all of a chain's customers.
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