Strawberry Market Update: Prices Normalize as Supplies Increase
Strawberry production in Florida has suffered as of late due to bad weather conditions in the state. However, production volumes are bouncing back, and growers tell AndNowUKnow that crops were merely delayed, not ruined.
"It's been down quite a bit to date, but production is starting come up as we speak... Everything's been delayed to some extent this season. We'll be harvesting into April," said Gary Wishnatzki, Owner of Wish Farms.
"We are getting ready to enter peak volume in late February and early March. This means excellent volume will be available for promotions during the month of March – which happens to be National Nutrition Month," said Kyla Garnett, Marketing Manager for Naturipe Farms. Naturipe recommends merchandising strawberries along with blueberries, blackberries and raspberries to promote all the nutritional benefits berries provide. She says consumers are always looking for recipe suggestions and these can be promoted on retailers' websites, POS, and free recipe cards.
There are also concerns that labor availability may become an issue as harvesting heats up.
"We expect better than normal March production, but that could be tempered by labor availability. We do have H2A workers for our company owned farm as well as one of our main grower's farms, so we should be better off than average if there is a labor crunch, but I expect that labor could be in short supply as the season progresses," Wishnatzki explained.
Until recently, strawberry prices were slightly higher due to a limited supply, but that is changing too.
"Prices are coming down as supplies are picking up; we're seeing some lower pricing here this week already," Wishnatzki added.
In addition to Florida supplies increasing, California volumes have picked up as well, further contributing to less inflated prices.
Wish Farms
Naturipe Farms
