It’s National Strawberry Month here in the US, and Naturipe Farms is currently enjoying peak production of its organic California strawberries.

With all California strawberry growing regions (Oxnard, Santa Maria, and Watsonville-Salinas) in full swing, Naturipe will have its highest volumes of both conventional and organic strawberries this season.

“Our organic strawberries from California are available year-round, with peak supplies and promotable volumes in late spring through the early fall,” says Jerry Moran, vice president of sales at Naturipe. “Thanks to the growing regions where we grow our organic strawberries, our berries have great quality. We have great flavor on our organic strawberries, and the coastal climates in California allow the fruit to naturally ripen at a good pace to gain more natural sugars.”

Jerry Moran, Vice President of Sales, Naturipe

Naturipe offers organic strawberries in 1- and 2-pound packs that are made with a high percentage of post-consumer-recycled content. The packaging also features a How2Recycle label, instructing consumers how to properly recycle it.

“Our organic strawberries from California are available year-round, with peak supplies and promotable volumes in late spring through the early fall.” - Jerry Moran

Organic strawberries are a nutritional powerhouse, offering consumers immune-boosting and other health-promoting health benefits. “Strawberries contain many essential vitamins and minerals, such as the antioxidant vitamin C—just one serving of eight tasty strawberries has more vitamin C than a medium orange,” says Moran. “They are also a good source of fiber, and contain 210mg of potassium, which helps keep blood pressure in check and reduces stroke risk.”

As is the case with all of Naturipe’s fruit (berries and avocados), its organic strawberries are offered throughout the year. “Our focus on innovation ensures year-round availability of locally grown and Globally Local^TM conventional and organic fruit,” says Moran. “Just like all growers, we’re at the mercy of Mother Nature and our volumes fluctuate with the weather patterns.”

“We currently have about 10 percent of our [overall strawberry] volume in organic production,” he says. “There are a lot of challenges to producing organic strawberries, including finding adequate land, which makes it difficult to expand.” 

In addition to its year-round California organic strawberry program, Naturipe also offers Mexico-grown organic strawberries from November through March.

“As a leader in the berry industry, we feel it is important to be represented in the organic category,” says Moran. “We have farmed organically for many years and plan on continuing to improve our production. We feel it is important to service our customers and consumers year-round that choose to purchase organic berries.”

“We currently have about 10 percent of our [overall strawberry] volume in organic production.” - Jerry Moran

Moran says strawberries and blueberries are Naturipe’s two most popular organic items. “We have developed good volumes and consistent supply in these two berries, and consumers have really increased their consumption on these two,” he says.

“As a leader in the berry industry, we feel it is important to be represented in the organic category. We have farmed organically for many years and plan on continuing to improve our production." - Jerry Moran

Naturipe is a farmer-owned producer that grows and markets strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cranberries, and avocados from both North and South America. Headquartered in Salinas, CA, the company is a partnership between four growers— Hortifruit S.A., Michigan Blueberry Growers, Naturipe Berry Growers, and Munger Farms.