Saven Corp. in Savannah, GA, specializes in flat sweet yellow onions marketed under the “Oso Sweet” brand for the retail market. The company is in the sweet onion business year-round, with U.S. production on the East Coast for eastern markets, the West Coast for western markets, and offshore to extend the season to 52 weeks a year.

Whatever the source, “we want to make sure our customers know that when they buy an ‘Oso Sweet,’ each and every onion is going to be just what they expect,” said President Brian Kastick.

Stemilt Growers LLC has taken great pains to farm stone fruit for flavor and is proud of the fact that all its peaches and nectarines are organic. “This is a signature organic program in the U.S. for soft fruit,” Director of Marketing Roger Pepperl told The Produce News. “We have been organic for six years now, and it reflects in the balance and great flavors the fruit possess.”

Sixty percent of the company’s apricots are organic. “This organic supply is very popular, and we anticipate great demand for our product due to the quality and organic certification.”

Apricot season is under way for Stemilt Growers, one of Washington’s leading apricot grower-shippers. The company started harvesting and packing apricots in central Washington earlier this week, which is a week ahead of last year’s timing. Not only is Stemilt a state leader in apricot volume, but it also has a strong organic presence centered on growing fruit for flavor.

Gary Margolis, owner and president of Gem Tomato & Vegetable Sales Inc., headquartered in Boca Raton, FL, told The Produce News that the company’s tomato crops in Michigan got a late start because of the unseasonably cool weather in early spring.

“We were delayed and concerned,” said Margolis. “But once we started moving and got the plants into the ground, the weather turned to what is perfect for growing conditions. The crops are catching up nicely now and we believe we’ll be on schedule.”

A specialist in the fresh radish business, Miedema Produce Inc. in Byron Center, MI, is in its second season of marketing two fresh pre-cut radish products.

Todd Miedema, director of marketing for the firm, said the two “For You”-brand items are “Radish MatchStixx”-brand and “Radish Chips.”

“It was simply too cold and wet in the spring to get plants in the ground on time in Michigan this year,” said Calvert Cullen, president of Cheriton, VA-based Northampton Growers Produce Sales Inc., in mid-June. “Everything is planted now, and we’re now getting some really good weather there. We expect things to pick up quickly and that we’ll have nice volumes and great quality in Michigan this year. We will start harvesting around July 4, which is about 10 days later than normal.”