Market Update For Berries

Week of August 25 – August 31

Last week temperatures in Santa Maria exceeded 85 degrees for almost three days, pushing maturity faster than growers could keep up with fresh harvests. Production heading into the weekend was way off, as growers were forced to drop ripe fruit and clean up before the Labor Day holiday. Quality in Watsonville continues to decline, so retailers are focusing their buying on Santa Maria new crop Portola variety, but volumes are just not there, and growers were forced to prorate heavily into the weekend. The spot market pushed as high as $18.00, with the mostly market still ranging from $14.00 to $16.00. if the industry sees strong demand this week, we could find ourselves in a demand-exceeding situation, with the markets holding form at these current levels.