Strong California strawberry demand for Labor Day

Overview of strawberries from California in the U.S. market, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published on August 30, 2024.

In California, the supply of strawberries is normal for this time of year with most of the fruit coming from the Santa Maria and Salinas-Watsonville districts. This supply looks similar to last year at this time.

“The demand for strawberries is very good as we are in the midst of the Labor Day pull and the quality is generally very good,” says John Wilkinson of Blazer Wilkinson Gee, LLC. He adds that the strawberry crop is strong in both districts this year given the fact that growing conditions have been favorable for the entire fall-planted harvest season on strawberries. However, in turn, that has left the price as perhaps expected–lower year-to-date.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

Strawberry production costs still high

That’s particularly challenging for growers and shippers given the state of the economy at the moment. “The production costs are fully 20 percent higher than they were four years ago and the consumer also has less buying power due to the inflation,” says Wilkinson.

Looking ahead, the fall-planted strawberry crop will continue to wind down in Santa Maria but the summer-planted crop has begun in a small way. “Salinas-Watsonville will continue for a few months at normal strawberry volumes,” adds Wilkinson.

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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