Bobalu Shares Crop Update Ahead of Fourth of July
From
| 5 July 2023
Overview of blueberries in the U.S. market, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published on June 28, 2023.
Following a strong start to the domestic blueberry season in the Southeast, Naturipe will transition to crops in New Jersey, Michigan, and the Pacific Northwest to provide a bounty of blueberries for the entire summer. Naturipe is the country’s largest blueberry supplier and #1 brand of Fresh Blueberries, growing dollar sales of blueberries at 2.5 times the prior 52-week growth of the category.
“Demand for blueberries has been fantastic so far this year, which leads into a perfect scenario for a large crop coming on from New Jersey then transitioning into Michigan and the Pacific Northwest,” said Jim Roberts, President of Sales for Naturipe Farms. “Mother Nature has been kind to us this year unlike the last three years. We are pleased to have strong crops with promotable volumes and better quality. This will provide retailers with the opportunity to increase promotional frequency, open up displays with multiple pack sizes, and achieve record sales in the category.”
The “berry” blue summer will kick off with promotable volumes from New Jersey in the second week of June, with the Duke and Draper varieties, as well as Naturipe’s proprietary Envoy variety. New Jersey will experience peak volume in mid-June and then the crop will transition to Michigan and the Pacific Northwest at the beginning of July. Peak volumes in the Pacific Northwest will continue from mid-July to early August, while Michigan will see peak volumes in late July through mid-August.
Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)
The grower is also focusing on preparing for its fall crop, which should come on nicely later this summer to extend its season, complementing its year-round program.
Statewide strawberry volume is slowly catching up to previous years, with weekly volume now running very similar to last year. The grower noted its statewide cumulative total is still behind the last two seasons as we head into July.
“Oxnard ultimately did not catch up to the last two seasons’ year-end volume, so it will be interesting to see how the rest of the state does by year-end after such a harsh beginning,” Bobalu continued. “At least we are now enjoying strong volume and quality as we head into the summer holidays.”
The News in Charts is a collection of stories from the industry complemented by charts from Agronometrics to help better tell their story.
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