The amount of fruit being received by strawberry processors in California in 2021 is lower than the past four years. In 2018 California strawberry fields sustained a freeze in late winter that set the crop back, but eventually the crop set well and produced heavy volumes. That does not look like it will be the case in 2021. Current field conditions do not look like they did in 2018. The current strawberry crop has been affected in ways that are keeping production lower than the past few years. This last week only had 3.5 million pounds of #1 grade strawberry arrive at processors in California. For the current week, it does not look like it will be much heavier. Typically for this time of year 15-20 million pounds could be expected for the current week we are in. Supply of fruit for processing looks to remain lower than that for the next few weeks.
