Thornsbury, Suzanne

Tomlinson, Riley

Weldon, Richard N.

Woods, Mollie

Wysocki, Allen F.

English

Research Papers in Economics

 197
Florida and the Fresh Strawberry Industry
Riley Tomlinson, Richard Weldon, Mollie Woods, Suzanne Thornsbury, and 
Allen Wysocki
facing the retail industry (Heller 2002). Consumer 
awareness of food safety issues is reshaping the 
retail food-supply chain. The National Good Agri-
cultural Practices (GAPs) program was developed 
in 1999 to educate growers and packers of fresh 
produce about how they can reduce the potential for 
microbial contamination. GAPs use a HACCP-like 
approach to address on-farm food-safety issues for 
fresh produce through a set of practices developed 
by USDA that a grower may voluntarily adopt. In 
contrast, third-party certification schemes, devel-
oped by private food safety companies, involve 
mandatory adoption of practices in order to achieve 
certification as “safe.” Recently, many retailers be-
gan demanding certification of handling practices 
from their fresh produce suppliers. Private certifiers 
inspect farms and provide consultation on how to 
reduce the likelihood of microbial contamination, 
for a fee (Henson and Caswell 1999). The additional 
costs associated with GAPs and/or third-party cer-
tification may exclude some small growers from 
the market and further accelerate the trend toward 
a bi-modal structure (large versus small) for the 
Florida fresh strawberry industry. 
Florida is the largest supplier of strawberries dur-
ing the winter months (October-January). However, 
consumers “are slow to recognize the availability 
of strawberries” during this period (Best 2002). 
Marketing for strawberries often occurs at the end 
of the Florida strawberry push; marketing them 
earlier would allow Florida to have higher returns. 
If marketed differently there may be an opportunity 
for Florida growers to sell more berries.
References
Best, E. 2002. Personal communication. June.
Heller, W. 2002. “2002 Produce Report.” Progres-
sive Grocer 81:56–58.
Henson, S. and J. Caswell. 1999. “Food Safety 
Regulation: an Overview of Contemporary Is-
sues.” Food Policy 24:589–603.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agri-
cultural Statistics Service (NASS). 2003. “Veg-
The Florida strawberry industry harvested 6,900 
acres of strawberries in 2002; this ranks second to 
California’s 28,500 acres (USDA-NASS 2003). 
This research is designed to examine four key issues 
influencing the Florida fresh strawberry growers’ 
competitive production and marketing position. 
Two Key Issues Facing the Production of Florida 
Strawberries
Strawberries are grown in Florida on raised beds 
covered with plastic. These beds are fumigated by 
methyl bromide during the pre-planting stages. The 
U.S Clean Air Act of 1992, as amended in 1998, 
requires that methyl bromide be phased out of use 
by 2005. Elimination of this will have a significant 
impact on the competitive situation for strawberry 
production (Van Sickle and NaLampang 2002).
Florida strawberries are planted mainly as bare 
rootstock of varieties specifically designed for 
growing conditions in Florida. The rootstock is 
propagated from “mother plants” grown in Califor-
nia. The mother plants produce sister plants that are 
then moved to northern states to begin the growing 
process and develop hardiness. These sister plants 
are then brought to Florida, reducing the chance of 
disease. The bare root is transplanted by hand, and 
the plants are watered daily for two weeks to keep 
them cool. This extensive watering is costly in terms 
of water access and nutrient loss in the soil. This 
issue is compounded by a major potential conflict 
in water usage between Tampa urban sprawl and 
agricultural usage. 
Two Key Issues Facing the Marketing of Florida 
Strawberries
In a recent survey of produce buyers, food safety 
was ranked as the third most important challenge 
Tomlinson, Weldon, and Wysocki are graduate student, 
associate professor, and assistant professor, respectively, 
Department of Food and Resource Economics, University 
of Florida, Gainesville. Thornsbury and Woods are assistant 
professor and research specialist, respectively, Department 
of Agricultural Economic, Michigan State University, East 
Lansing.198   
etables 2002 Summary.” January.
Van Sickle, J. and S. NaLampang. 2002. “The 
Impact of the Phase Out of Methyl Bromide 
on the U.S. Vegetable Industry.” International 
Working Paper Series 02-3, International Agri-
cultural Trade and Policy Center, University of 
Florida. April.

Food Safety Regulation: an

VegThe Florida strawberry industry harvested 6,900 acres of strawberries in 2002; this ranks second to California’s 28,500 acres (USDA-NASS

FLORIDA AND THE FRESH STRAWBERRY INDUSTRY

FLORIDA AND THE FRESH STRAWBERRY INDUSTRY

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