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It is no secret that at one time virtually
every California strawberry grower used varieties
developed by the University of California except
for Driscoll Strawberry Associates.
Driscoll had its own varieties, and they
were considered superior in the marketplace.
“Good as a Driscoll” was a well-known phrase
uttered by countless salesmen over the years.
But the industry has changed dramatically
over the past three decades. While Driscoll still
has a fine reputation for quality, the university
breeding program made grade strides forward
under the watchful eyes of two legends — Victor
Voth and Royce Bringhurst. Though they
have since retired, those two developed the very
popular Camarosa variety which has become
the launching pad for many other new varieties,
both by the university and private breeders.
Today, many different California strawberry
firms are offering proprietary varieties to their
customers. One of the latest to offer what they
believe is a “better berry” is Beach Street Farms,
Watsonville, Calif.
Marketing Director Stephanie Hilton said
the goal of the firm’s own breeding program is
certainly to offer something better not just different.
“It has to be better that is the goal. What
we are trying to do is meet the consumers’ demand,”
she said. “We think we have better
berries.”
This season about 30 percent of Beach
Street’s production is devoted to two new proprietary
varieties. Hilton said one of the new
varieties “in our opinion is a little bit sweeter”
than the popular Camarosa. “The other has
better color and size.”
Hilton said the company’s breeding program
definitely uses the university varieties as a
foundation. “The university program is very, very
important to us and the entire industry. But we
have a private plant breeder who is annually
reviewing new varieties at different locations to
try to come up with something better.”
Though the industry has lost to retirement
two giants in the strawberry plant breeding
world, Hilton said the move toward proprietary
varieties is not a reflection on that loss and the
shift to new breeders. “There are two very good
breeders that have taken over and are doing
an excellent job of continuing the work on university
varieties.”
Still there is a trend toward having proprietary
varieties. Another trend that is fueling this
one is the goal of strawberry shippers to offer
strawberries on virtually a year-round basis. It
wasn’t that long ago that California strawberries
would begin to trickle in in late February
and wind down as the calendar was flipped to
October. Today, Southern California begins production
in December and Watsonville lasts well
into November. Subsequently, many companies
have partnered with growers throughout
the state to offer berries throughout the year.
Case in point: Beach Street Farms.
“We now have a business relationship with
Orange County Produce and can offer product
virtually 12 months of the year,” Hilton said.
The two partners grow and pack each
other’s label so each can offer their customers
berries all year long. “More and more shippers
are doing that,” said Hilton.
As the number of retailers shrink, it has
become a necessity. California used to have
five distinct strawberry growing regions with
many shippers that used to only be in the deal
in one district. “We used to have many smaller
chains and regional produce buyers and we
don’t have that anymore,” said Hilton explaining
why most of the successful grower-shippers
have had to abandon the regional approach.
Along with its year-round offering, Beach
Street Farms has also increased its organic offerings
to a year-round program. Hilton said it is
still only a small part of their business, but it is
increasing. “It is not a large percentage of our
business but we are committed to it.”
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