Jalisco, Mexico – Berry People has announced new berry sourcing deals in Mexico which it says will fill supply gaps in the North American market during the fall and winter months.
New supplies of fruit include organic blueberries from Jalisco and conventional strawberries from Guanajuato and Michoacán. These volumes will complement Berry People’s existing supply from Latin America and the U.S. Meanwhile, the company is also expanding its U.S. operations from Long Beach, California to McAllen, Texas.
New Berry Sourcing Deals
Berry People recently began harvesting the first-ever blueberries from its new high-elevation plantation in Jalisco, which will supply the North American market from now until the end of January.
“We will have predominantly organic production from this ranch, filling a generally under supplied October-through-January window, with a focus on customers looking for the crunch, snap, and sweetness that Mexico can readily provide,” said Jerald Downs, President of Berry People.
“While our South American organic blueberries are key to supporting volume retail blueberry sales at attractive general consumer pricing, this Mexican organic production will be targeted to specific programs for customers who desire to further differentiate themselves at the consumer eating experience level.”
In addition to the new blueberry deal, Berry People will also start harvesting conventional strawberries at its ranches in Irapuato and Zamora in October. Volumes will peak from December through January, wrapping up by the end of February.
The company says these supplies will fill the gap between its crop in Santa Maria, California, set to peak in October and November, and its crop in Baja California, Mexico, which will peak in February through April.
“This deal is a milestone in giving us our desired transitional overlap and increasing our continuity and quality of supply in a tricky market window for strawberries,” said Downs.
“We will have daily multi-load volumes by mid-November and can support sub-feature and feature promotional activity for Ads breaking weeks 48 to 6.”
Downs said that expectations are high for the inaugural season of these new blueberry and strawberry crops, which are grown on farms belonging both to company shareholders and third-party growers.
Source: Berry People press release