Inside Plant City’s Wish Farms warehouse during strawberry season

PLANT CITY, Fla. - Strawberry season is in full swing in Plant City, and the warehouse and packing facility at Wish Farms is especially busy. 

It’s 125,000 square feet with about 100,000 of that being refrigerated. The warehouse services 13 different growers in the Plant City and Dover areas. 

"A lot of them we’ve worked with for decades," explained Nick Wishnatzki, the public relations manager at Wish Farms. 

RELATED: How Plant City's ‘Strawberry Sue’ became a champion for Florida’s strawberry industry

Wish Farms distributes berries out of the warehouse all year-round. Farmers pick and pack their strawberries right in the field. 

After that, they are brought to the Wish Farms warehouse to cool until they are shipped out for an order. 

"The farm truck traffic just never stops this time of year," said Wishnatzki. 

MORE: Plant City church celebrates 50 years with Florida Strawberry Festival

Employees at the warehouse must move quickly, because they are working against the clock. It’s imperative that berries are refrigerated as much as possible at 34 degrees. 

"Every hour that they are out of refrigeration, they lose a day of shelf life," explained Wishnatzki.

Typically, berries are only at the facility a day or two until they are shipped out for an order. 

READ: Celebrating the Strawberry: Keel Farms strawberry Riesling vinaigrette

Wish Farms packs and ships about 48 million pounds of berries during the Florida Strawberry season, which runs from November through April. 

Click here for more information on the Wish Farms operation. 

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