In the next four weeks, it will be peak strawberry season in California. This is when U.S. producers switch from Mexican imports to domestic crops of the popular fruit.
For Driscoll's, the world's biggest supplier of berries, that means the most important part of the year is overlapping with the fallout of coronavirus.
"This year it looks like we're going to have a record crop of strawberries," Soren Bjorn, president of Driscoll's, told Cheddar. "We have a few challenges ahead of us, for sure."
The biggest concern for the California-based company is keeping farmers, who are used to working in tight-knit groups, from congregating in the fields.
"Social distancing in the field is a very different thing than in an office or a factory," Bjorn said.
While there is plenty of space, workers often gather in packs around wash stations. As a result, Driscoll's has brought in additional stations to make sure everyone can safely wash their hands.
Some of these measures work against the culture of farming, particularly among the largely Hispanic workforce, Bjorn said.
Driscoll's does not anticipate a labor shortage, however, even as President Donald Trump closes the country to immigration, including temporary workers.
"I think we will be okay in terms of the supply of labor," Bjorn said. "In California, we're not that dependent on H2A guest workers. We mostly have a domestic workforce that lives here year-round."
He added that, unfortunately, there are 15,000 hospitality workers who are out of work in Monterey County alone. Many of these workers are going over to agriculture.
"I think we will be able to find enough workers, as long as we can keep everybody healthy," he said. "That's really been our number priority from day one."
Headline updated April 23 to reflect that Soren Bjorn is the president of Driscoll's, not CEO.
With high healthcare costs, bills can quickly add up. In some cases, it is possible to negotiate your medical bills. Barak Richman, law professor at George Washington University, joined Cheddar News to discuss the easiest way to talk to medical debt companies about what's owed.
Millions of people have selected insurance plans for 2024 but sometimes navigating them can be tricky time consuming and expensive. Paula Pant, host of 'Afford Anything' podcast, joined Cheddar News to break down what's needed to know about their insurance plans.
The European Union is investigating Elon Musk's X over alleged illicit content and disinformation on its platform. Cheddar News breaks it all down and discusses what it could mean for users.
Adobe and Figma called off their $20 million merger, Southwest Airlines gets fined, Nippon Steel is buying U.S. Steel and oil and gas prices surge after a pause in shipments.
With more employees being called back to the office, many workers are suddenly protesting by being in the office for as little time as possible. As the term suggests, coffee-badging means coming in for just enough time to have a cup of coffee, show your face, and swipe your badge.
Japan's Nippon steel is buying U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion.
Southwest Airlines will pay a $35 million fine as part of a settlement over a 2022 holiday season disaster that saw the airline cancel thousands of flights and leave millions of people stranded.
Cheddar News' Need2Know is brought to you by Securitize, which helps unlock broader access to alternative investments in private businesses, funds, and other alternative assets. The private credit boom is here and the Hamilton Lane Senior Credit Opportunities Fund has tripled in assets under management in just six months from November 2022 through April this year. Visit Securitize.io to learn more.
Stocks opened slightly higher after Monday's opening bell after several weeks of gains as the year closes out.
Big Business This Week is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street.
