I’d like to thank my friends from Dwight for providing new information regarding color on raspberries.  The USDA does have a U.S. Grade Standard for Raspberries, dated 1931.  So you can see there may be some room for new information.  Within the grade standard there is a color requirement for raspberries, they be well colored.  Well colored is defined by the USDA as being, “require the whole surface to show a color characteristic of a mature berry.”  Not much room for compromise.

These are typical raspberries.  No doubt about it, all the berries are well colored.  But what would you do if you receive some raspberries that have some color issues?

The USDA does have tolerances to allow for some defects, and raspberries that are not well colored are considered as being defects, called poorly colored.  From these 4 pints shown here you can easily see some of the berries would be defects, poorly colored.  The US Grade Standard for Raspberries allows no more than 10% defects (damage).  It appears there is definitely more than 10% poorly colored berries, so it would be easy to reject the berries on account of color.  But what if you need the raspberries?  The shipper was notified about a “possible” rejection, but the shipper asked if the raspberries could be put on hold for a day, as they will color up.  Fortunately the raspberries were not going out for another day, so the receiver placed the raspberries in their 35 degree cooler for a night.  Lo and behold, (to my surprise)….the raspberries did indeed color up just fine.  The receiver was able to ship out the “once poorly colored, but now well colored” berries to their stores, and the shipper avoided a rejection, a win/win.

You may find yourself in a similar circumstance.  The raspberries may come into your warehouse on the lightly colored side, and yes, you are within your right to reject them if they exceed 10% defects, poorly colored.  But if you can hang onto them for another day, you may find they color up just fine, overnight, to meet your need for your deliveries.