Figs are making a comeback in the United States, as growing consumer demand pushes California growers to expand production.
California remains the center of America’s commercial fig industry, with production concentrated around Fresno, Madera and Merced counties.
About 9,000 acres are currently devoted to figs. Production reached approximately 6,300 tons in 2025, rising from about 5,900 tons the previous year.
New Varieties Are Driving Interest
Consumers can increasingly find several fresh varieties, including Mission, Brown Turkey, Tiger Stripe, Sierra and Emerald.
Emerald is one of the industry’s newer varieties. Its large size, green skin and exceptionally sweet flavor have helped attract attention.
Meanwhile, newer cultivars such as Emerald and Sierra have largely replaced the once-important Calmyrna in commercial production.
That evolution shows how quickly new varieties can reshape the fig industry.
Demand Is Growing Beyond California
Fresh fig season generally runs from May through November.
However, finding fresh figs remains difficult in many parts of the country, particularly along the East Coast. Growers are planting additional trees to help meet growing demand.
International markets are expanding, too. Roughly 20% of California’s fig production is exported, including shipments to Canada, Japan and Southeast Asia.
Figs are also appearing in more products, including snack bars, jams, energy bites, dressings and baked goods.
Why This Matters for Bethel Grove
The industry’s growth reinforces a central idea behind Bethel Grove Gardens: there is still tremendous room for innovation in figs.
Bethel Grove plans to build a diverse fig collection while developing a breeding program focused on creating new varieties suited to the Carolinas.
Future selections could emphasize exceptional flavor, productivity, cold tolerance, rain resistance, earlier ripening and other valuable characteristics.
Eventually, visitors could walk through the gardens, taste different cultivars, pick fresh figs and even sample experimental Bethel Grove varieties.
California may dominate America’s fig industry today, but the next generation of exceptional American figs could come from somewhere entirely new.
