California Market Immersion
San Francisco / U.S.A
Join the New Zealand Delegation for the Californian Market Immersion and 2023 Salinas Biological Summit
Vegetables NZ, Callaghan Innovation and Plant and Food are teaming up to offer NZ growers, agritech businesses, and researchers the opportunity to join the market immersion trip to California, the ‘Salad Bowl of the World’.
From 11-19 June, the delegation will tour the state famous for its wide range of quality produce, visiting large-scale fruit, vegetable and nut-growing operations; cutting-edge research institutions; and learning about seeking investment and the government regulations of operating within this market.
This trip offers New Zealand growers and New Zealand agritech companies the chance to foster new relationships and learn more about cracking into this highly innovative, large-volume market.
Our programme is designed as the perfect lead-in to this year’s 2023 Salinas Biological Summit (20-21 June) by Western Growers and the two-day Central Valley Field Trip (22-23 June) run by Wharf42 in conjunction with the 2023 Salinas Biological Summit.
Don't miss this incredible opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of California growing systems and build valuable connections with industry experts! Register now to secure your spot.
Market Immersion Agenda
This is the proposed agenda - it is subject to change based on availability and timing.
Sunday 11 June - San Francisco to Sacramento
Afternoon: Bus transfer from San Francisco to Sacramento
🏨 - Sacramento, CA
Monday 12 June - Sacramento & Napa Valley
09:00 - Visit 🏛️ California State Government Building
13:00 - Visit 🎓 UC Davis
🏨 - Napa Valley, CA
Tuesday 13 June - Napa Valley & Palo Alto
09:30 - Farm Visit: 🍇 Napa Vineyard 1
12:00 - Farm Visit: 🍇 Napa Vineyard 2
🏨 - San Jose, CA
Wednesday 14 June - San Jose
09:00 - Plug and Play
12:00 - Lunch and introduction to 📈 SVG
15:00 - 🚜 Kubota Innovation Centre
18:00 - 🏖️ Social evening
🏨 - San Jose, CA
Thursday 15 June - San Jose
08:30 - Farm Visit 🥬 Farm Visit 1
14:30 - Farm Visit: 🌽 Farm Visit 2
🏨 - San Jose, CA
Friday 16 June - San Jose
07:30 - Hotel Checkout
08:30 - Farm Visit: 🥗 Farm Visit 4
11:00 - Farm Visit: 🥕 Farm Visit 5
🏨 - San Francisco
Saturday 17 June - San Francisco
All Day: Free Time
🏨 - San Francisco, CA
Sunday 18 June - San Francisco
Morning: Day Trip to Big Sur
Evening: Arrive in Monterey
🏨 - Monterey, CA
Monday 19 June - Salinas Valley
08:30 - Farm Visit: 🏭 Taylors Processing Facility
13:00 - Farm Visit: 🥗 Church Brothers Farm
17:00 - Networking: 🥂 2023 Salinas Summit Welcome Event
🏨 - Monterey, CA
Tuesday 20 June - Salinas Valley
All Day: 🌿 2023 Salinas Biological Summit Day 1 (learn more | programme)
🏨 - Monterey, CA
Wednesday 21 June - Salinas Valley
All Day: 🌿 2023 Salinas Biological Summit Day 2 (learn more | programme)
🏨 - Monterey, CA
Thursday 22 June - Central Valley
All Day: 🚌 - 2023 Salinas Biological Summit - Central Valley Field Trip: Day 1
🏨 - Kingsburg, CA
Friday 23 June - Central Valley
All Day: 🚌 - 2023 Salinas Biological Summit - Central Valley Field Trip: Day 2
🏨 - San Francisco, CA
Saturday 24 June - San Francisco
🛫 - Departure Day
F.A.Q.
What farm visits and growers will you meet with?
We are currently developing a programme that will include select visits to a range of large-scale fruit, vegetable and nut-growing operations in the California State on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th June. These are being confirmed. Importantly though, if there is an operation in particular you want us to visit, contact [email protected] and let us know - we will make every attempt to include it in the programme.
For those delegates that are attending the 2023 Salinas Biological Summit there is an option to include a further 2 field trip to growers in the Central Valley - highly recommended.
Why aren't you arranging farm visits over the weekend of the 17 & 18 June?
Well, based on our past events, we learned that taking a break is pretty necessary. Between jet lag, early mornings, long days, and socializing, it can really wear you out. You're welcome to do some work if you want to, but it's totally up to you to set up your own visits, customer interactions and logistics.
If you'd rather kick back and relax, explore San Francisco, or even visit some friends in another state, that's cool too. Just keep in mind that week 2 will be just as exhausting, so make sure you take some time to rest up!
Can we join the group midway through, or leave before the Salinas Summit?
Absolutely! Our plan is for you to be with us for the whole trip, and we've set it up that way. However, if you have to come in late or leave early and you can manage the logistics on your own, we're more than happy to have you join us for as much or as little of the trip as you can.
Just keep in mind that if you're coming on the trip with co-funding, there are certain attendance requirements you'll need to meet in order to be eligible for funding payment.
What about COVID-19?
Please do your own research. The Callaghan Innovation team will comply with these two pieces of advice, but please...do your own research.
Advice 1
"...all air passengers, regardless of citizenship or vaccination status, are no longer required to show a negative viral COVID-19 test result, or documentation of recovery from COVID-19, before boarding a flight to the United States" (source)
Advice 2
"...noncitizen nonimmigrant air passengers no longer need to show proof of being fully vaccinated with an accepted COVID-19 vaccine to board a flight to the United States." (source)
Flights
We have our flights booked and encourage you to do the same.
When it comes to arrival, please make sure you're in San Francisco by early afternoon on June 11th.
As for departure, we're anticipating a late arrival back in San Francisco on June 23rd. If you're planning on attending the 2023 Salinas Biological Summit Central Valley field trip, we suggest not scheduling your flight out of California for that day since we can't guarantee what time we'll be back.
The Callaghan Innovation team is travelling to San Francisco on AirNZ flight NZ8 - departing Auckland Friday 09 Jun 2023 at 1945.
Accommodation
We are booking accommodation for the group as a single block. All hotel costs below are in $USD, most include breakfast, but excludes taxes (usually an additional 15%).
The best way to be a part of this is to contact the trip organisers and ask to be included. This way we can make the bookings for you (and you will pay via credit card when there).
Our selected hotel are:
09/6 - Holiday Inn and Suites, San Francisco | 2 nights | $299 p/n
11/6 - Kimpton Sawyer Hotel, Sacramento | 1 night | $199 p/n
12/6 - Holiday Inn Express & Suites - Napa Valley, Napa Valley | 1 night | $160 p/n
13/6 - Hilton Hotel Campbell - Pruneyard Plaza, San Jose | 3 nights | $279 p/n
16/6 - Holiday Inn and Suites, San Francisco | 2 nights | $299 p/n
18/6 - Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa, Monterrey | 4 nights | $249 p/n
22/6 - Fairfield Inn & Suites, Kingsburg | 1 night | $199 p/n
23/6 - Holiday Inn and Suites, San Francisco | 1 night | $299 p/n
(If you choose to organise your own accommodation, you will need to meet at these hotel locations by 8am to board the bus.)
Budget
To give you a ballpark figure for the expenses you are likely to incur as part of this trip, please see our estimated budget for the trip - right click, open in new tab.
Bus Transport and Distances
We'll be renting a bus to travel around as a group. It's worth keeping in mind that California is a pretty big place, so some distances might be longer than you expect.
San Francisco to Sacramento - 1h 50min | 88 miles (141 km) | map
Napa Valley to San Jose - 2h 30min | 101 miles (162 km) | map
San Jose to Salinas Valley - 1h 15min | 59 miles (100 km) | map
Salinas Valley to Central Valley - 3h 00min | 160 miles (258 km) | map
Central Valley to San Francisco - 4h 00min | 206 miles (331 km) | map
Co-funding
Callaghan Innovation will be funding a number of agritech companies to attend this market immersion. More details will be shared in the coming weeks.
Travel Insurance
If you can’t afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel. Please ensure you have adequate coverage.
Traveller’s checklist:
A helpful list of things we think you should do to be ready for this trip:
Consider being an exhibitor at the 2023 Salinas Biological Summit - details here
Book flights
Book accommodation (final details still being sorted)
Purchase tickets to:
Get travel insurance
Get your U.S. visa waiver sorted (here - USD$21)
Think about accessing money (Kev uses https://wise.com/nz/ for international currencies)
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