California fig season holds steady at 10m pounds

California's fig season is holding at roughly 10 million pounds for a second year running, but growers say the fruit costs more to pick and ship than it did in 2025.

The California Fresh Fig Growers Association (CFFGA) says the 2026 main crop, in season from July through November after May and June's smaller breba harvest, is matching last year's volume with what it calls outstanding quality. "California growers are delivering beautiful, flavorful fruit once again this year," said CFFGA chief executive Karla Stockli. Chairman Kevin Herman added that quality is "outstanding across all varieties, and the Emerald continues to impress."

A crop matching last year, at a higher cost

A crop as big as last year's, wrapped in a smaller margin for growers.

FOB prices have improved from 2025, when a delayed start squeezed growers, but the relief is partly eaten up by rising input costs. "Labor, water, gas, packing materials — pretty much every input has climbed since last year," said Erik Herman of the Specialty Crop Company. Figs are especially exposed to that math: the fruit does not ripen once picked, has thin, easily bruised skin, and needs handling by hand rather than machine, so every added cost in labour lands directly on the crop.

The Emerald problem: too popular to ship

The variety generating the most interest this year is Emerald, in only its second commercial season and still short of full production. Retailers are pushing it hard for what growers describe as a green fig with a crème-brûlée-like flavour, but its short shelf life means demand is outrunning what packers can move without bruising. Some shippers are testing new clamshell and box designs to improve airflow around the fruit, a small fix for a crop that California grows across five main varieties on a plant that pollinates itself, without wasps or a partner tree, according to the state's Fig Advisory Board.

The California season now overlaps with produce further afield, including California's tightening almond market, another crop where labour costs are reshaping what growers plant and ship next year. For fig growers, the fix on the table is not a bigger crop but a sturdier box.