News and Stories

Markon First Crop Strawberries are not available; Markon Best Available Strawberries in one-pound clamshells and/or packer label supplies are being substituted due to poor quality and extremely tight supplies.

The Santa Maria, California growing region received approximately 0.10” of rainfall late last night; more is expected this afternoon. Harvesting crews packed orders ahead yesterday and will pack as many orders as possible this morning before the rain hits (pending field conditions). Expect extremely limited supplies this week with the possibility of pro-rated orders.

• As much as 0.25” of rain is expected in the primary growing region of Santa Maria, further impacting quality and availability
• Demand far exceeds supply; prices continue to rise
• Production estimates will continue to decline following the rain
• Problems to expect on arrival as growers continue to work through weather challenges:
• Bleeding
• Bruising
• Light decay
• Shortened shelf-life
• Soft texture
• Water damage
• Overall volume is at an all-time low for the year
• Last week’s rain heavily impacted volume; many berries must be culled due to water damage
• Cooler temperatures and shorter days are slowing the ripening process
• The Salinas/Watsonville season came to an early end
• New crop winter berry harvesting is slowly ramping up in Mexico and Florida; the Oxnard, California season will not begin until mid-December
• Mexican-grown strawberries are available for loading in South Texas
• Supplies are tight; prices are higher than those for California fruit
• Size is small-medium; quality is fairly-good
• Only one-pound clamshells are packed during the early season
• Stocks are not expected to increase until the week of November 16
• The Florida strawberry harvest has started in a very limited way
• Early season supplies are extremely tight; prices are higher than those for California fruit
• Size is medium; quality is good
• Initial orders must be pallet quantities
• Only one-pound clamshells will be available during the early season
• Adequate supplies are not expected until late November/early December
  

Please contact your Markon customer service representative for more information.

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