CYCLOSPORA SCARE EASES; STRAWBERRY SALES RALLY

AMY I. STICKEL

Strawberry sales are rebounding now that federal health officials have refocused cyclospora investigations on imported raspberries.

National media reports originally linked outbreaks of the cyclospora parasite to strawberries, causing a dip in purchases of the fruit during what is normally a prime selling period. But according to several retailers and the California Strawberry Commission, strawberry sales are returning to near-normal levels after a rocky few weeks in June and July.

"I was in the middle of an ad for strawberries when the news on cyclospora broke pretty hard nationally," said Vince Terry, director of produce for Harps Food Stores in Springdale, Ark. "We had stores that were impacted. Sales at some stores dipped." By the middle of July, sales were recovering, Terry reported. James Mikstay, produce manager for Hartville IGA in Hartville, Ohio, estimated strawberry sales were off about $500 a week during the height of the media attention. "When the news first came out, sales slowed," he said. "Now, they're about back to what they were before."

Retailers in the South and the East Coast seem to have been hardest hit by slumping sales, because most of the cyclospora outbreaks occurred in those areas, according to Teresa Thorne, communications director for the California Strawberry Commission, Watsonville, Calif. "And those are all very large markets," she said. "Those retailers move a lot of berries."

One Canadian retailer reported losses that neared six-figures over about a five week

period, she said. Cyclospora outbreaks were also reported in Toronto. While strawberry sales appear to be picking up, consumer confidence has been shaken, Thorne said. "There's some work to be done," she said. "When you're accused of something, it's page one news. When you're exonerated, it appears on page five. A lot of consumers haven't heard the news [that federal authorities have not linked strawberries to cyclospora]." According to the commission, the "inappropriate" linkage to strawberries has cost California growers approximately $20 million. Terry of Harps said he continued to promote strawberries, while providing his consumers with as much information as possible. Terry had each store post information from the California Strawberry Commission and the Produce Marketing Association, Newark, Del., along with a note he wrote. "We put up the information over the strawberry displays, explaining what was going on and that the likelihood of strawberries being involved was likely nil since cyclospora is incompatible with strawberries," he said. "We assured our customers that every effort was made to ensure that the product we had out there was a clean, safe, good eating product. We gave them information about hotlines that were out there," he added.

Terry said he believes the information paid off. "We could have had a catastrophe that we'd still be feeling. With strawberry sales on the rebound, I don't see a catastrophe for the strawberry industry," he said.