Plant City, Fla.-based Wish Farms, an international grower and year-round marketer of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and pineberries, said it is gearing up for higher volumes of California-grown Pink-A-Boo Pineberries.
Developed by the University of Florida, which named the variety “Pearl,” the non-GMO berry has been trademarked Pink-A-Boo by Wish Farms. As the exclusive marketer of summer pineberries, Wish Farms grows commercial volume of the variety on the West Coast.
With 150 acres of Pink-A-Boo Pineberries in Santa Maria, Oxnard and Salinas, Calif., the company is shipping to retailers across the U.S. and Canada. Wish Farms said it expects strong volumes ramping through May and June.
“The rollout to date has greatly exceeded my expectations,” Wish Farms owner Gary Wishnatzki said in a release. “We continue to build traction, as consumer excitement and retail demand have been very positive. Everyone is trying to get their hands on them. It really is the new celebrity of the produce department.”
Wish Farms said it has made a “heavy investment in promotion and education of the new berry, successfully reaching millions of consumers.”
On TikTok, the top six posts featuring Wish Farms Pink-A-Boo Pineberries just reached over 16.5 million viewers, the company reports. Collectively, the hashtags of #PinkABoo, #pineberries, #whitestrawberry and #whitestrawberries have over 36.9 million views.
The company said the berries also have been featured on television news segments in the major markets of Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, Austin, Baltimore, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Greenville, Grand Rapids and Jacksonville.
Pineberries are white in color and turn a pink blush when ripe. Wish Farms describes the berry as having a strawberry flavor, but with essences of pineapple, pear and apricot. Since it has a lower relative acidity than traditional red strawberries, pineberries have a delicate flavor finish, added Wish Farms.
Founded in 1922, Wish Farms is a fourth-generation, family-operated company. It grows both conventional and organic varieties of berries. Wish Farms says it uses patented traceability technology to ensure quality and safety by tying consumer feedback to specific information from each day’s harvest.