Family-owned Driscoll's, based in California, “the largest player in the $5.6 billion U.S. berry market,” is seeking to develop a strawberry that is “tough enough to thrive with less water, less care [and] fewer chemicals,”
Bloomberg reported.
The company “runs one of the biggest strawberry breeding programs in the world” and has a staff of 30 scientists working exclusively on strawberries, the article said.
Driscoll's chairman, Miles Reiter, is a third-generation family owner. His daughter manages Driscoll's operations in Chile. The company estimates that it has 34% of the U.S. strawberry market, and 48% in organic, the article said.
In the U.K, Driscoll's Jubilee line of strawberries is sold at a 30% premium over other varieties. In the U.S., the company has introduced a Season's Finest line of blackberries, available for a short time at a steep markup, the report noted. The Del Rey strawberry, released in 2009, is Driscoll's most-planted variety. “The average life span of a Driscoll's variety in the U.S. is about three years,” the Bloomberg article said. (Source: Bloomberg, July 29, 2015.)
-
2257 reads