It is always strawberry season somewhere, isn’t it?
The Packer recently posted coverage of the Florida strawberry deal, you can find that coverage at these links:
Automated harvest getting closer
Florida brilliance variety shows promise in first season
Big volume ahead for January after slow start to season
Pro*Act’s The Source report of Jan. 3 indicated strawberry prices were easing on down a bit as a result of post-holiday lack of demand, with cold weather in California countering that trend.
For the third quarter of 2018, the United FreshFacts on Retail report indicated retail strawberry sales of $679 million, up 5.9% from the same quarter a year ago. Third quarter pounds moved totaled 282 million pounds, up 4.2% from the same quarter last year. The average retail price for the quarter was $2.41, up 1.6% from a year ago.
A couple of interesting insights about fresh strawberries from The Packer’s 2019 Fresh Trends report:
- 62% of shoppers said they purchased fresh strawberries in the last year, trailing only potatoes, bananas, apples, tomatoes and onions.
- Of those consumers who purchased strawberries, 21% indicated they bought both organic and conventional strawberries in the past year.
I put together some charts to give some insight on current volumes and prices. The volume of strawberries crossing through south Texas was notable, I thought.
