Market Update For Berries

As retailer prepare to start pulling significant volumes leading up the Easter holiday, production from both Oxnard and Santa Maria just won’t recover in time. Two more days of cold and wet weather this week will keep growers at bay, and time is running out for the plants to reset. There is a lot of green fruit and flower, so all that is needed is a stretch of dry warm weather. Weather over the next two weeks looks to provide just that, so expect volumes to finally normalize after the holiday. For those retailers who can react, promoting after Easter will be far less challenging. Currently, FOB’s from the Baja range from $16.00 to $20.00 with only fair quality fruit available.  California pricing ranges from $18.00 to $22.00 with most growers wanting to keep their volumes close to home. Half load volumes, prorates and cancelations will be the norm over the next 10-14 days.