Berries are one of those foods that show up looking perfect at your local store, and most people never stop to think about everything that happened before they got there. (Honestly? Fair. You have lunches to pack.)
But the truth is, growing a great berry is a whole process. Soil, sunshine, water, hand-picking, packing, shipping—phew, we’ll leave it there. The point is, every single step has the potential to make or break what ends up in your clamshell.
So, here’s a look behind the curtain at how we grow our Berry Fresh berries, from the field all the way to your table.
Berry Farming, Year-Round
Berries are seasonal by nature. Traditional North American blackberry season runs May through August, blueberries peak in summer, and raspberries follow a similar window. The trouble? Most people want a handful of berries on their yogurt in February, too.
That is why our berry farming network spans the globe. By growing in many regions, we can provide fresh, delicious berries throughout the year even if there happens to be snow outside your window.
A quick look at where we grow:
- Mexico: Home of our Sweet Karoline® blackberries, harvested December through June.
- Chile: Certified for sustainable water use and integrated pest management.
- Peru: Another certified growing region in our South American network.
- Morocco: A newer addition to our growing footprint.
- United States: California and Oregon farms, with distribution centers from Oregon to New Jersey.
The result? Fresh, hand-picked berries showing up at your local store year-round, regardless of what is in season where you live.
How Berries Are Actually Grown, Step by Step
The short version? With a lot of care and even more patience. The longer version? Here it is.
Step 1: The Plant
Every berry starts with a plant variety chosen for flavor, hardiness, and growing conditions. We never use GMOs. All of our berries are bred through traditional cross-pollination, which takes years of patient work. Our Sweet Karoline® blackberry, for example, took seven years to develop from breeding to first commercial harvest.
Step 2: The Field
Berries are picky about where they live. Soil drainage, sunlight, water access, and elevation all play a role in whether a plant thrives. Our growers prep beds carefully and use drip irrigation across farms, which delivers water straight to the root zone and cuts down on waste.
Step 3: Pollination
This is where the bees come in. Healthy berry farms need healthy pollinators, which is why our farms maintain habitats that keep bees, butterflies, and other helpful insects happy. No bees, no berries. (Thanks, bees!)
Step 4: Growing Season
Once flowers are pollinated, the berries themselves start forming. Depending on the variety, the time from flower to ripe fruit can range from 30 to 70 days. Our growers monitor every step, watching for pests, weather changes, and signs of stress.
Step 5: The Harvest
Berry Fresh berries are hand-picked by a dedicated team trained to spot the exact moment a berry hits peak ripeness. Color, firmness, and aroma all factor into the decision. Berries are packed directly into clamshells in the field to minimize touching, bruising or any contact with the fruit. We like to go straight from plant to clamshell so you’re getting as close to the hand-picked experience as possible.
Step 6: Packing and Shipping
After harvest, berries are put immediately into refrigeration and driven to the cooling facilities built to keep them fresh. All of our packaging is designed to help protect, cool and prolong the berries life from the field to your fridge. And because we know our packaging choices matter, our clamshells use up to 70 to 75 percent post-consumer recycled plastic, because packaging matters too.
How We Grow Berries Sustainably
Good berries start with healthy soil, clean water, and a growing process that respects both. That’s why our berry farming practices are built around long-term sustainability, not shortcuts.
A few of the certifications and practices that back it up:
- GlobalG.A.P. SPRING certification for water efficiency in Chile, Peru, and Morocco.
- GlobalG.A.P. LEAF certification for integrated pest management and regenerative farming in Chile, Peru, and Morocco (Mexico is currently being evaluated).
- Organic Certification for certified-organic blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries.
- Drip irrigation across farms to minimize water waste.
- Non-GMO breeding using only traditional cross-pollination.
- Bee-friendly habitats to keep pollinators thriving.
- Soil restoration practices built into our regenerative farming approach.
These standards apply to our owned farms, and we hold our partner farms to the same expectations. Every Berry Fresh berry, no matter which country it came from, is grown using the same playbook.
What Peak Ripeness Actually Means
You’ll hear us say “picked at peak ripeness” a lot, and it is not marketing fluff. Picking at peak ripeness is an important factor in how good a berry tastes once it lands in your fridge.
Our growers look for color that is even and deep (whether it be a red raspberry, blue blueberry, or a purple-black blackberry); and firmness, meaning plump and ever-so-slightly soft to the touch.
For some of Berry Fresh’s more premium varieties, they also check the Brix rating, which measures natural sugar content. For example, most grocery blackberries land between 4 and 8 Brix, while our Sweet Karoline® blackberries land between 14 and 18 Brix. That is no small jump. (Curious how the Brix scale actually works? We broke it down here!)
From Our Farm to Your Fridge
Once berries leave the field, the goal is simple: get them to your local store as fresh as possible.
A quick look at what happens between harvest and your kitchen:
- Cooled fast. Berries head to a packing facility within an hour of being picked.
- Packed gently. We go from hand-picked from the plant, straight to hand-packed on the farm, all in one motion.
- Cold-chain shipping. Berries stay refrigerated from field to store-shelf.
- Distributed nationally. Our distribution centers are located across the US, from Los Angeles to New Jersey, so berries reach stores across the country quickly.
Once you get them home, store unwashed berries in the fridge in their original clamshell. Only wash them right before eating to keep them fresh longer.
Growing a great berry is not a quick process, and that is the whole point. From planting the plants in-field to selecting the ripe berries for the clamshells on your local grocery shelf, every step matters. The next time you grab a pint of Berry Fresh blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries, you’ll know exactly what went into making them taste the way they do.
Now that you know how our berries are grown, the fun part is eating them. Find your next favorite recipe here!
