Though the market for strawberries is steady, demand for fruit out of California's Central Coast remains light. As summer arrives, competition will increase from other soft fruit.“Yields are good right now,” said Jerry Summers of CBS Farms. “I think we're ahead of schedule, and the fruit looks good.” He added that volumes peak this time of year, which makes for a competitive market for fruit. Though, this year's peak could be relatively smooth.
“In talking to growers who have been doing this a long time, I don't think the peak will be crazy,” said Summers. “Production will peak and level off and not dip, so we will be in good supplies through August.” On May 22, prices for a flat of small and medium strawberries out of Oxnard were between $6.00 and $7.00. For a flat of medium and large berries out of Salinas and Wattsonville, prices were between $7.00 and $8.00. By the end of last week, production for the state was just over 89.0 million flats, which is almost exactly where production stood by this week last season.
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Jerry Summers
CBS Farms
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