By Hayley Boriss, Henrich Brunke and Marcia Kreith, Agricultural Issues Center, University of California.

Updated August 2011 by Malinda Geisler, content specialist, AgMRC, Iowa State University, malindag@iastate.edu.


Overview
Strawberries are the fourth highest ranked U.S. fruit in terms of value of production, following grapes, oranges and apples. The U.S. strawberry industry is mostly located in the southern and coastal areas in California, because strawberry production is best suited to moderate climates with warm days and low humidity. Florida and Oregon are the second and third largest producing states respectively. Notably, all of Florida’s production is for the fresh market, and it is the major producer of the winter strawberries in the United States.

April and May are the peak shipping months for strawberries, but because of Florida’s winter production, U.S. strawberries are marketed year-round. In addition, the adoption of new varieties and integrated production practices, including the annual replanting of nursery-grown transplants to minimize disease, enables the California industry’s longer marketing season from January through November.

Demand
Over the last two decades, strawberries have experienced one of the highest rates of consumption growth of all fruit and vegetables. Strawberries are the fifth highest consumed fresh fruit in the United States, behind bananas, apples, oranges and grapes. As the industry transitioned from seasonal to year-round production, expanded domestic supply and increased availability stimulated consumption. New information on the health benefits of strawberries--their antioxidants, folate, potassium, vitamin C and fiber content--also stimulated their consumption.

Per capita consumption of strawberries totaled 8.7 pounds in 2009. Of that total, fresh strawberry consumption accounted for 7.2 pounds per capita. Consumption of frozen strawberries accounted for 1.5 pounds.

Marketing
Increasingly, a substantial portion of the California fresh strawberry harvest is presold through an option called a precommitment between shippers and retailers. This option enables retailers to commit to newspaper advertisements prior to the harvest. Typically, the contracts set a maximum price but are not legally binding and allow renegotiation for price at time of delivery. The extreme perishability gives retailers an edge.

With the exception of Florida, the eastern U.S. strawberry industry primarily consists of small family farms that turn to alternative marketing channels such as you-pick operations, roadside stands and farmers' markets.

Production
The United States is the world's largest producer of strawberries, and most of the production is consumed domestically. An increasing amount of strawberries are being produced for fresh-market uses. Fresh-market production in 2010 accounted for 81 percent of total production.

With the increase in production of fresh-market strawberries, the value of production increased as well. The total value of U.S. strawberry production in 2010 was $2.2 billion. Fresh-market strawberry production alone totaled $2.1 billion, while the value of processing strawberries was $155 million. California production in 2010 was valued at nearly $1.8 billion. Florida’s contribution, mainly of winter strawberries, accounted for $362 million.

Exports
U.S. strawberry trade mainly takes place in North America with the majority of U.S. exports going to Canada, and the majority of U.S. imports entering from Mexico. The United States exported 126,900 metric tons (MT) of fresh strawberries in 2010 valued at $341 million. The leading export destination for fresh strawberries was Canada with 111,210 MT valued at $289 million, followed by Japan with 5,913 MT of fresh strawberries valued at $27 million. Mexico purchased 5,326 MT valued at $11 million.

The United States exported 15,520 MT of frozen strawberries in 2010 valued at $26.5 million. Canada was the leading buyer with 8,151 MT valued at $14.3 million. Japan purchased 4,045 MT of frozen strawberries valued at $7.3 million.

Imports
In 2010, the United States imported a total of 175,264 MT of fresh and frozen strawberries valued at $326 million. Most of the strawberry imports originated from Mexico.

Prices
Grower prices for U.S. strawberries have been variable over the years. However, prices for processing strawberries are generally lower than those of the fresh market. In 2010, fresh-market prices for strawberries were $90.20 per hundredweight while processing strawberries were valued at $29.20 per hundredweight. Typically, prices follow a seasonal trend, with lowest prices seen from April to June during peak production, and peak prices in January and February when domestic supplies are lowest.

Current Issues
The widespread practice of using methyl bromide as a preplant soil fumigant against weeds, nematodes and pathogens for strawberry production and in strawberry nurseries continued to be allowed in 2006 under critical use exemptions to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (and the U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, which implements the Montreal Protocol.) Except for critical use exemptions, methyl bromide production and net imports were totally phased out in 2005.

Based on lack of technical or economically feasible alternatives, the U.S. Department of State submitted its annual nomination, this time for 2010, for methyl bromide critical use exemptions to the Ozone Secretariat of the United Nations Environment Programme for review and authorization.

In the coming years, growers using fumigants will need to establish buffer zones around treated fields under new safety measures for soil fumigants released spring 2009 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The buffer zones will range from 25 feet to more than one-quarter mile.

Sources

Critical Use Exemption Information for Methyl Bromide, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

Critical Use Exemption Nomination From the Phaseout of Methyl Bromide, U.S. EPA.

Food Per Capita Consumption Data System, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA.

Fruits and Tree Nuts, ERS, USDA.

Global Agricultural Trade System, Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA.

Methyl Bromide Critical Use Renomination for Preplant Environment, U.S. EPA.

Noncitrus Fruits and Nuts, National Ag Statistics Service, USDA.

The United States Leads in World Strawberry Production, Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook, ERS, USDA, 2005.



Created March 2006 and updated August 2011.