On its new strawberry label, Well-Pict Inc. has added the tagline “50 years of flavor” to tout both its many years of service to the industry and its proprietary breeding program.

Director of Marketing Jim Grabowski said the company breeds and develops its own varieties, with the flavor component being at the top of every varietal wish list. “We design (each variety) for good looks and flavor,” he said, noting the two most important attributes.

The company grows and packs strawberries in three of California’s districts: in Oxnard in Southern California, in Santa Maria on the Central Coast and in Watsonville, further up the California coast bordering on the north end of the Salinas Valley.

For the Oxnard district, which, along with Orange County, is the earliest starting district, Well-Pict markets two of its own varieties: one that captures the early end of the deal and the other, which is a later bloomer and allows fruit from that district to survive past spring and into summer. One proprietary variety is grown in Santa Maria, while two again are the order of the day for Watsonville: an early bloomer and a late bloomer.

Grabowski said these varieties are spaced to give Well-Pict good volume of fruit for the entire length of California’s season, which is about an 11-month deal these days.

The season did get off to a slow start but, speaking on March 8, the Well-Pict executive said volume was starting to kick in, and by the end of March he expected weekly volume for the state to have reached lofty numbers with peak weeks hitting later in the spring.

Like other shippers, Well-Pict offers its berries in a variety of packs with the one-pounder clamshell being the most popular and carrying the heaviest load.

But he added that two pounders are gaining some momentum and have cracked that barrier to be an everyday shelf item for some retailers. The four-pounder, on the other hand, has not yet broken through as it is typically used for promotional purposes.

Well-Pict offers both organic and conventional strawberries and also has a number of different SKUs in the mixed berry arena.