Easter weekend was abuzz with excitement this year for California’s strawberry industry. As the unofficial kick off to spring, the holiday marks a major domestic sales weekend for early-season fruit. News out of Beijing, however, had U.S. exporters such as Driscoll’s with their sights set on China.

California is expected to supply China’s first commercial strawberry imports, following a recent draft protocol signing between China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Driscoll’s Bobby Yavari described 2016 as a test year full of learning opportunities for California’s strawberries in China. Although the industry is awaiting further news from China on specific export protocol, Yavari anticipated extensive opportunities for savvy exporters. 

“As the buying power for consumers in Asia and the opportunities in China are growing, the average consumer continues to ask for better and healthier products. We are seeing that in surveys and in various conversations that we have had with retailers,” said Yavari, Driscoll’s director of global expansion.

While other imported berries, such as Mexican raspberries and blackberries, are still gaining familiarity in China, Yavari said strawberries are a known and enjoyed fruit. He estimated China’s domestic production already rivals that of the United States.

Athletes in China also got a small taste of California-grown strawberries during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“That was probably the impotence behind that (the draft protocol). It was one small, short window and unfortunately, there weren’t any followups to that. The great thing though is that both countries got together and now we have an open market for strawberries from California to go to China,” Yavari told Fresh Fruit Portal.

By working exclusively with retailers that adhere to strict cold chain standards, Yavari said Driscoll’s will be able to drive consumer demand toward an increasingly popular fruit and a trusted brand.

Californian producers are also expected to benefit from the opportunity to fill in a supply gap for China. When China’s domestic production is low, California enjoys its peak summer production, Yavari explained.

As April and May approach, California’s production will continue to gain momentum. Despite drought pressure and reduced acreage, favorable winter and early spring weather have translated into good quality fruit, said Chase Renois, director of Driscoll’s strawberry product business management.

“Our plant establishment in Southern California, especially Oxnard, has been really good this year and I think we’re going to have a really superior delight offering in the market place,” Renois told Fresh Fruit Portal. “I feel like we’re putting up a really good crop this year.”

Production will continue to heat up, Renois explained, as the harvest shifts north from Orange County and Oxnard to Santa Maria and later to Watsonville and Salinas. He said Driscoll's currently sources strawberries from all of California's major production zones, with the exception of Orange County.

Volume, however, is not expected to catch up with previous years, when groundwater sources were in better supply. Renois said rains in northern California have benefitted the state's overall water situation, but general availability remains down. 

Snowpack in the northern Sierra Nevada range has maintained average levels, while the southern range remains at three-quarters of average, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's U.S. Drought Monitor. While heavy rains provided some relief for northern areas in abnormally dry to severe drought, large expanses of extreme and exceptional drought persist in most of Southern California.

Strawberry production to date currently stands at half of 2015’s volume. As of March 24, California had produced just under 20 million flats of strawberries, compared to nearly 39 million year-on-year in 2015, the California Strawberry Committee (CSC) reported.

Eclipse Berry Farms sales director Stuart Gilfenbain said while his company has not reduced the acreage it sources from, he has observed declines across all of California’s major production zones.

Citing number from CSC, Gilfenbain said acreage has dropped by 13.8% around Oxnard, 14.6% around Santa Maria, and 6.9% around Salinas.

While Eclipse has exported to Asia in the past, Gilfenbain said the company will not likely ship to China, due in large part to the reliability and cost of air freight.

“The expense of strawberries, by the time they were flown over, they’d be so friggin’ expensive, I don’t know what kind of tonnage they could actually take. I know there is money over there, but are they willing to spend it on strawberries?” Gilfenbain said.

On the domestic market, he did not expect shoppers to notice supply shortages or notably higher prices. He reported very good quality to date.

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