Raspberry harvest in Whatcom county and British Columbia has been over for a few weeks now. Typically, harvest runs through late August, but due to a warm spring and winter the growers completed harvest around the 5th of August. The overall crop is estimated to be down about 35% due to high temperatures which caused shriveled fruit that stuck to the cane and was never picked. There was also a 30+ MPH wind event which led to significant fruit drop. Some growers estimate they lost a whole pick due to fruit falling on the ground from the high winds. Because of this we again experienced increased pricing on puree and juice grade fruit. The price of both juice and puree increased by around 15% from last year. The juice price settled at $1.32/lb. ($1.10- $1.15 in 2014) and puree increased to $1.60-$1.65/lb. ($1.40-$1.45 in 2014).
