Bobalu celebrating 60 years, planning growth

Oxnard, Calif.-based Bobalu Berry Farms LLC is a fourth-generation farming family and vertically integrated strawberry company.

“This year, we are celebrating our 60-year anniversary as a strawberry farming family,” said Cindy Jewell, president at Jewell Marketing. “Much of our marketing communication throughout the whole year is focused on who we are as a company, where we came from and where this generation is taking it in the future.”

The company grows, ships and processes strawberries on a year-round basis from multiple growing regions in California. In addition, it has grower relationships in Mexico and Florida.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

For the first time, the company will be shipping all 365 days this year from California because of the addition of a fall strawberry crop in Oxnard to complement its fall Santa Maria crop.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

“The timing of our spring, summer and fall crops will allow us to grow and ship strawberries every day this year from California,” Jewell said. “Having fall fruit from two growing districts in California, and the addition of Mexico and Florida, will provide volume numbers to meet demand.”

The company is also offering organic strawberries this year because of a new grower relationship. It intends to increase this segment of its business.

Bobalu has been planning to switch to new packaging, but logistics are slowing down the process.

“We are hoping to utilize some new recyclable packaging this year,” Jewell said. “The supply chain on packaging and other materials has been a challenge following the pandemic, so we are staying somewhat conservative in exploring new options in 2022.”

In the meantime, a new package size for strawberries has gained traction over the last few years.

“We have seen a real rise in the demand for 2-pound packages since the beginning of the pandemic,” Jewell said. “That demand has really stayed consistently strong this year, as well. Shoppers are buying more of the larger pack styles on a regular basis.”

Bobalu looks forward to expanding volume each year in both conventional and organic strawberries, as well as other berry varieties, but will take that step in a strategic way using the company’s family-grown, farmer-owned philosophy, Jewell said.

Getting through 2022 will be another challenge born out of the pandemic.

“Increased costs are our biggest challenge all the way around,” Jewell said. “The cost of labor, supplies, fuel, transportation, land and water in California are all up. It concerns me when the national media can get focused on increased costs to the consumer without acknowledging the challenges faced by growers in the U.S.”

The News in Charts is a collection of stories from the industry complemented by charts from Agronometrics to help better tell their story.

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