Oxnard and Santa Maria are some of the main strawberry-growing regions in the country.
"Ninety percent of strawberries in the U.S. are produced out of California," explained Erin Mittelstaedt, CEO of the Fruit Guys. "It's a lot of local economy it's supporting, a lot of small farmers that it's supporting. It's a really important commodity in the California growing region."
She added that the crop can vary in taste and size every year.
"Microclimates, soil, and weather can really affect it. But I think the biggest thing that we see in tasting strawberries and what makes them different is really the different varieties," said Mittelstaedt. "We all probably think of a strawberry as just a strawberry, but there's actually thousands of different varieties. They have different colors, different sizes, and they hold up better than others; some have to be eaten right away. So there are local climate changes that affect it, but I think that variety is also a big impact [on taste]."
