The strawberry market has seen increased volume and strong demand and very little effect from the pandemic.
Supplies from the Salinas-Watsonville, CA, area are strong with growers reporting high quality berries as summer officially starts.
3 YEAR WEEKLY VOLUME COMPARISION FOR CONVENTIONAL STRAWBERRIES
Even with the crisis effect, year-to-date, the strawberry market has shown a growth of 7 percent vs. 2019, said Raul Lopez, an agronomist with Agtools Inc.
Blue Book has teamed with Agtools Inc., the data analytic service for the produce industry, to look at a handful of crops and how they’re adjusting in the market during the pandemic.
After the beginning of the pandemic, the market reacted with highs and lows, but April steadied up and recovered the volume lost during the emergency. As the summer begins, we expect demand will increase, especially as lock downs get relaxed, he said.
WEEKLY SUPPLY FROM MAIN GROWING REGIONS
As the Central California season goes on, the volume is increasing, and the season in South California has ended, Lopez said. Salinas-Watsonville will continue to be the main supplier during the summer, and if the reopening of the economy creates a bigger demand, there could be great momentum for this region.
F.O.B. PRICE FOR SALINAS CONVENTIONAL STRAWBERRY 8 1LB CLAMSHELLS
Prices in 2020 began higher than 2019. However, in the last few weeks, the price went down to $7, a little bit lower than 2019 during June, Lopez said. It is expected that the price will remain steady as the production increases during the summer.
LOS ANGELES TERMINAL MARKET PRICE FOR CONVENTIONAL STRAWBERRIES FROM SALINAS, CA.
In previous years, the price in Los Angeles dropped below $10 per case, Lopez said. This year (Blue line) is performing in the same pattern. During 2018, there was a high-low pricing, but the average was in the same range as 2019 and 2020. There is not expected to be big changes in the market, unless the end of the lock down increases the demand.
AVG WEEKLY RETAIL PRICE FOR 1LB CLAMSHELL STRAWBERRIES IN THE SOUTHWEST REGION
The price in the retail industry has had no big changes in the last 10 weeks, Lopez said. Since mid-March, when the pandemic started, the price dropped and has remained at the same level. Very similar behavior as the previous year. If the demand increase with the end of the lock down, could be expected that this price increases a little bit.
VOLUME REPORT BY GROWING REGION DURING 2020 FOR CONVENTIONAL STRAWBERRY
YTD California central has been the main supplier to the market, and its season just started few weeks ago. Southern California is the second supplier and is having very good growth in 2020. Florida as the third supplying region also had very good growth vs. 2019.
