Watsonville, CA – As peak berry season arrives, so does another giant year of increase in berry acreage and year-round availability. New marketing initiatives are also in the works for California Giant Berry Farms.
California Giant has increased strawberry acreage by 12%, mainly in northern California districts with Albion still the dominant variety in that growing region. Santa Maria has a slight shift in strawberry varieties with the addition of the Monterey. Additionally, this region has variety berries gearing up for production in the spring and summer. All California strawberry growing regions have increased availability of organic strawberries with volume stretching from February– November. Additional strawberry growing regions compliment the year –round availability sourcing from Mexico and Florida.
California Giant continues to expand its share of the fresh blueberry market with increases in acreage and volume from Chile in the winter and the Pacific Northwest and California during the summer. The company is also very pleased with its expanded year-round blackberry program with varieties and growing regions producing very positive results and feedback from customers.
The company is also kicking off 2013 with a new marketing mission to connect on a more personal level with those very important consumers already buying their berries for their families, as well as reaching new consumers forming new brand loyalties.
With several years of consumer data now in hand due to QR codes, social media connections, the company is ready to take the next step as they focus on building daily personal connections. “We are making a new investment in time and tools to learn more about who our followers are and why they are interested in us so we can better engage”, says Cindy Jewell, Director of Marketing. “There are some great new tools available to us that help us better target and communicate with our consumers in a way that is more valuable to them and in turn converts them into California Giant brand champions”, she adds. The company will also work with key promotion partners throughout the year that provide increased usage of California Giant brand berries and serve as incentives to build brand loyalty with new consumers.
Trade focus in 2013 will continue with an emphasis on proper cold chain management critical to the profitability of fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. California Giant plans to keep the pressure on training by offering free usage of their cold chain video as an essential tool for trade customers in educating store level produce managers. The videos are available on YouTube, as well as by request on DVD or USB drive.
Source: California Giant Berry Farms
