HERMOSILLIO, SONORA, MEXICO — "For 30 years, grapes have grown cheaper, not sweeter," notes Mexican grape grower, packer, shipper and exporter, Carlos Bon, a partner in Grupo Alta, based here, and its marketing arm, Divine Flavor LLC.

With the start of 2014's cherry season just weeks away, enthusiasm is running high at Chelan Fresh Marketing in Chelan, WA.

According to Marketing Director Mac Riggan, early shipments will start June 10, and the season is expected to run through mid-August.

Bryon Magnaghi said his first year as sales manager at F.C. Bloxom Co. has been successful. The company is headquartered in Seattle, WA, and Magnaghi is manning the office in Walla, Walla, WA. He brings more than three decades of experience in the produce industry and has developed a broad range of contacts over the years.

F.C. Bloxom began selling produce more than 75 years ago, starting with apple growing operations in Washington’s Yakima Valley.

Weather conditions not conducive to growing fresh produce on what is Mother Nature’s normal pattern seems to have followed growers up the East Coast since the season got underway. The Carolinas have been hammered with rain since around April 1.

On May 6, Calvert Cullen, president of Northampton Growers, headquartered in Cheriton, VA, said the region had received as much as three to four inches of rain nearly every day since early April, which is highly unusual this time of year.

The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas held its annual membership meeting on May 6 in Nogales, AZ. This year’s meeting had several significant highlights: Walter Ram, vice president for food safety of The Giumarra Cos., received the FPAA Member of the Year Award; eight distributor board directors and two associate board directors were elected by the membership; Matt Mandel of SunFed stepped into his role as chairman of the FPAA; and Gonzalo Avila of Malena Produce Inc. was elected chairman-elect.

Sales Manager Marc Marchini of J. Marchini Farms in Le Grand, CA, wears the fig marketing hat for his firm and likes the distinction.

“It’s a fun item to be a part of it,” he said. “It’s sexy to be a fig shipper. Everyone remembers the tree their grandfather had in the backyard.”

For J. Marchini, fresh figs are a limited time niche item that the firm got involved in about a decade ago when it bought an adjacent ranch that had fig trees on it. “We were going to tear them out and put almonds on the land, but we decided to sell them and have done pretty well.”