California strawberry shipments are on track to beat last year’s 202 million trays by a little over 16 million.
Naturipe Berry Growers of Salinas, CA finished its Santa Maria berry shipments the first week of June and then shifted to the Watsonville area.
May and June are peak months for California strawberries.
Early in the season, shippers were loading in Oxnard, Santa Maria and Watsonville.
Volume remained strong through June, will have a seasonal decline in July and August.
Bobalu Berries of Oxnard, CA hit peak loadings in mid-June. Although the company has been a longtime grower, this is the first year Bobalu Berries is shipping its own product.
The grower has an interesting location north and west of Santa Maria, close to the ocean, similar to the Watsonville area.
Watsonville-Salinas will be the primary area in California shipping strawberries as the season progresses, but that area is significantly larger than the state’s other berry growing regions.
Naturipe’s volume likely will end up equal to or a little more than last year.
Main Street Produce Inc. of Santa Maria likely will continue to ship strawberries from that area until December.
The company’s volume will be up about 15 percent over last year.