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At one time, the California strawberry crop
only had minimum volume in early March. The
development of new, earlier-producing varieties
and an extremely-mild winter have produced
mountains of volume for this March. And the
earlier-than-usual volume is expected to continue
throughout the season. In fact, the peak
of the season may be moved up as much as
three to four weeks.
“The timing of the deal has been three to
four weeks early since day one,” said Stephanie
Hilton, marketing director of Beach Street Farms,
Watsonville, Calif. “And that is going to continue
as the production moves north. In
Watsonville, we are also three to four weeks
early.”
Not only has the weather produced more
berries earlier but so has an increase in acreage.
The state has about 1,400 more acres this
year to what could be a record of 28,230 acres.
That 5 percent increase combined with the great
early weather means lots of promotable berries
very early in the season.
Another factor operating in favor of good
early movement this year is the relatively late
date for Easter. The Easter holiday is always the
first big strawberry promotion day throughout
the country, but often weather problems impact
volume. This year, Easter isn’t until late April.
That late date combined with the earlier production
in each district means that all five districts
should have product for the Easter season.
Supplies should be very promotable.
Longtime observers are saying that the
potential for the volume number to shatter earlier
records is very high.
Illustrating this early volume are the numbers
from January. For the last few years including
last season, January has produced
about 1.2 million trays. While that number is
way up from a decade ago, it is only about 30
percent of this year’s January volume of 3.9
million trays.
Total volume of the 2003 crop could shatter
previous records. In 2001, California strawberry
growers produced about 83 million trays
of berries during the season with peak production
approaching five million trays per week.
Since then, acreage has increased about 12
percent, and the mild weather could put the
total volume numbers near the 100 million tray
mark.
Helping to move this crop, the California
Strawberry Commission has launched a new
marketing program entitled the “Red Edge.” This
plan was created by the commission’s marketing
committee with the purpose of setting a
communications platform that will drive consumption
of California strawberries by linking
the combined appeal of color, shape, taste and
year-round availability with the emerging nutrition
and health benefits derived from the package
of vitamin C, fiber, folate, phytonutrients
and antioxidants.
“The Commission’s Board of Directors have
agreed nutrition is at the forefront of the minds
of consumers,” said Rodger Wasson, CSC president
in a prepared press release. “We’re looking
forward to a plentiful season to compliment
our healthy message and provide many berries
for consumers to enjoy. A number of nutrition
research initiatives are planned for 2003, including
clinical trials and nutrient analysis, results of
which will be shared with the media and health
opinion leaders throughout the season.”
The Camarosa, a University of California
variety, remains dominant at 9,626 acres but
has faced a reduction in acreage while
Diamante and Ventana varieties have increased
by 1,037 and 958 acres, respectively. The
Camarosa produces early and is well suited to
the Southern districts along with the Ventana,
a newer University variety. The Diamante is better
suited for Northern growing districts.
Organic strawberry acreage increased by
58.5 percent, with 607 acres throughout the
state, up from 383 in 2002. This number includes
transitional acreage.
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