OXNARD, CA - As we rush toward Valentine’s Day, you can bet strawberries are among the staple produce categories finding a spot on shoppers’ grocery lists. Heading into its 2024 strawberry season, Bobalu Berry Farms has shared an update regarding its crops in Oxnard, California, and Mexico.
“The fruit from our ranches here in Oxnard and from our partner fields in Mexico is excellent right now and we are ramping up for the Valentine’s Day demand,” says Anthony Gallino, Vice President of Sales.
The company expects to have promotable volume to supply its partners with high-quality fruit and stems for the upcoming holiday, a press release stated.
As the grower reports, this January has been much more forgiving than 2023 with the volume coming out of Oxnard, currently doubling what it was at this time in 2023. The supplier’s plants are healthy, staying somewhat dry, and providing excellent fruit, even though we are still technically in the winter months.
Despite the Oxnard region receiving its share of rain already, dry days in between and nice breezes have allowed the plants to thrive. In addition, Santa Maria is showing some signs that the spring season there will begin very soon.
“While this is all very good news for our strawberries, the challenge we are facing now is the inclement weather in our receiving markets,” added Gallino. “When you can’t get trucks to the East Coast due to blizzard conditions and flooding rain, that affects all of us.”
The Bobalu team is working to keep the pipeline full and is diverting some fruit to markets that are not impacted by weather at this time, the company noted in its release.
At the start of February, the sales team will be focused on promoting the spring crop from Oxnard, Mexico, and Santa Maria as they prepare for an early Easter this year.
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