With fruit from Oxnard, Santa Maria and Salinas-Watsonville, Naturipe Farms expects promotable supplies starting in early April and continuing through the summer, said Jerry Moran, vice president of sales for the Salinas, Calif.-based company.
“Peak availability will start around Easter (early April) and continue through June,” Moran said.
While volume through mid-March was similar to last year, Moran said Naturipe expects to quickly outpace last year’s volume as the calendar turns to April.
“Last year we had late rains through the spring months that affected a lot of potential supply,” he said. “Our current fruit quality is outstanding as the cooler and dry weather has made our early season fruit become very large and full of flavor. We have increased our acreage in California so we will be able to offer excellent supplies to our customers this year.” Close to 10% of Naturipe’s volume is organic fruit, he said. The variety mix for Naturipe is always changing, Moran said. “We’re always looking for the next best variety,” he said. “We have increased our mix of proprietary varieties in Oxnard and Santa Maria. These varieties are performing very well in these districts as they have great quality and excellent flavor.”
Naturipe also has a good amount of the monterey variety planted in the Salinas-Watsonville district, which Moran said is a very good variety that has great consistent quality and flavor. In the midst of a long pandemic, Moran said consumers have been looking for nutrient-packed foods to fuel their body and health.
“It is important for us to share the many health benefits of berries,” he said. “Specifically, strawberries have immune-boosting properties with high vitamin C, which has helped the strawberry category during the pandemic.”
Another pandemic effect has been the way online grocery sales have boomed. “Consumers have relied more heavily on e-commerce to grocery shop and we expect this to continue in 2021 and beyond,” he said. “Because of this, Naturipe has expanded its marketing efforts to reach consumers both traditionally in-store and online through partnerships with online retailers and digital platforms.”
