Johnston Farms in Edison, CA, has long been in the business of growing and marketing citrus and potatoes. But lately, “the potato deal has not been too kind to anybody’s pocketbook,” Dennis Johnston, a partner in the company, said in an interview with The Produce News Oct. 17. “Demand is down and oversupply is still a big problem” even though an industry cooperative was “supposed to” facilitate a reduction in potato acreage to stabilize prices. “It hasn’t worked,” he said.

Booth Ranches LLC in Orange Cove, CA, a grower, packer and shipper of citrus from California’s San Joaquin Valley, “is unique in that we are a fully integrated company only selling the fruit we grow ourselves,” according to Tracy Jones, vice president of domestic sales. Owner Loren Booth “grows 7,500 acres of citrus stretching across California’s Central Valley,” Jones said in a written statement to The Produce News. “We own and operate two cold storages, both in Orange Cove.” The packing facilities and acreage are all certified under GlobalGAP.

Limoneira Co. in Santa Paula, CA, one of California’s oldest citrus growers, is a major producer of California citrus and one of the largest producers of lemons in the United States, with year-round availability of Eureka and Lisbon lemons, seedless lemons, Meyer lemons and variegated pink lemons.

The company also grows Navel and Valencia oranges, grapefruit, and an array of specialty citrus such as Cara Cara oranges, Blood oranges, Minneola Tangelos, Satsuma Mandarins and Pumelos.

“We are going to have a pretty good sized stem-and-leaf program this year,” Jeff Olsen, president of The Chuck Olsen Co. in Visalia, CA, said in an interview with The Produce News. That is something “we haven’t had in the past,” so it will be “new for us in the Mandarins.”

The company also has acreage increases in its Mandarin production this year, with the harvest expected to start in early November in the San Joaquin Valley of California.

The Chuck Olsen Co. also expected to start Navel oranges in the San Joaquin Valley around the same time, followed by lemons.

Suntreat Packing & Shipping Co. in Lindsay, CA, which was founded by brothers Harry Griffith and John Griffith, has been in the business of growing and packing citrus in California for more than half a century. Recently, the company, which grows several select varieties of specialty citrus in addition to lemons and Navel oranges, introduced the “Suntreat Reserve Citrus” label, which it reserves for its finest and best-tasting fruit.

Pear Bureau Northwest is launching a new consumer advertising campaign this season, using print ads to help boost pear consumption and increase the total number of pear consumers.