Southern California’s strawberry season got off to a soggy start this year, with nearly 4 inches of rain falling in the Oxnard growing area in January. Average rainfall for the month is about 2.7 inches.
Despite periods of heavy rain, Southern California got off fairly easy compared to other parts of the state. The Watsonville-based California Strawberry Commission estimated that farms in Ventura County experienced 300 acres of “catastrophic losses.” Statewide, the losses were 1,840 acres.
The Oxnard district will have 6,358 acres of strawberries this season, an increase of 408 acres compared to 2022.
The rains put a damper on early season picking, which means volume should be tighter than usual for Valentine’s Day, said Jerry Moran, vice president of sales for Salinas, Calif.-based Naturipe Farms LLC.
“We expect there will be less fruit overall for the holiday, causing demand to exceed supplies for this period,” he said.
Long term, though, the rainfall will help with plant health, which will lead to improved production and quality, he said.
“Fruit quality, size and flavor should be optimal,” he said.
Naturipe expects to have an increase in supply this year because the company has slightly more acreage planted than last year, Moran said.
Oxnard, Calif.-based Bobalu Berries doesn’t plan to promote strawberries for Valentine’s Day, said Cindy Jewell, who handles marketing for the company.
“It’s almost like we’re starting from scratch right now,” she said in late January.
Workers were removing damaged fruit, and the company didn’t expect to ship many berries from its Oxnard or Santa Maria growing areas at least until the end of February.
“We’re really relying on our product coming in from Mexico right now,” she said.
Watsonville, Calif.-based Well-Pict Inc. was not shipping any strawberries out of Oxnard in early January either, said Jim Grabowski, director of marketing. Movement was scheduled to resume the week of Jan. 23.
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“In spite of all the rain, things are looking good,” he said Jan. 19.
The company lost three weeks of production out of Oxnard but was able to pick up much of the slack from its grower in Florida, where markets were strong in January.
“[Florida growers] were finally able to get some decent money for their product,” Grabowski said.
He anticipated a good season out of Southern California as planting picks up.
“The plants right now have a lot of fruit on them,” he said. “We’re now predicting large-size fruit, good volume and good quality.”
Well-Pict should have plenty of stems for Valentine’s Day and Easter, he added.
Visalia, Calif.-based Seven Seas Fruit, part of the St. Louis-based Tom Lange Co., currently has acreage planted in Santa Maria and Lompoc, Calif., said Brent Scattini, vice president, West Coast.
He anticipated a mid-March start to the season in those areas.
The company fared pretty well through the storms, he said.
“We did not lose any acreage, and our farms drained well, so we do not feel that we suffered any permanent damage,” Scattini said.
“All things considered, our crops look great,” he added.
Seven Seas Fruit also is sourcing some “excellent quality fruit” from Mexico, he said.
Irvine, Calif.-based Gem-Pack kicked off its Southern California program Jan. 1, said Craig Casca, who handles sales for the company.
Supplies likely will be affected by the rain, but he said it was too early to know in late January to what extent that might be.
“Stems and quality are shaping up beautifully for the Valentine’s pull,” he said.
Gem-Pack’s volume of conventional and organic strawberries should be up this season compared to last year, he said.
Like other strawberry producers, Gem-Pack’s costs are up this year because of inflation, but Casca was optimistic about the coming season.
“We are hoping to see some relief in 2023 with easing fuel costs and possible packaging too, but that is yet to be realized,” he said.
