Mother Nature has been a fickle lady this year.

“We’re having a very cold spring,” said Roger Pepperl, director of marketing for Stemilt Growers Inc. in Wenatchee, WA. “We didn’t have much frost, but it was unseasonably cold.” On May 5, he said daytime temperatures were hovering in the mid-60s. “But it is cold at night,” he noted.

Yakima, WA-based producer Borton & Sons is moving into the 2011 cherry season on a note of cautious optimism. David Whiteside, part of the company’s sales team, said the company planted a total of 1,000 acres to cherries this season, up from the roughly 815 acres farmed in 2010.

As is true for the growing region, cooler weather has had an impact upon production. “It’s been a cold spring which has delayed bloom,” Mr. Whiteside told The Produce News May 13. “Temperatures have been lower than normal, and the November freeze did some damage to trees.”

Coinciding with the much-anticipated theatrical release of Disney Pixar’s “Cars 2” and its retailed video game, Chelan Fresh Marketing in Chelan, WA, will be promoting dark sweet cherries in a two-pound “Cars 2” bag.

According to Mac Riggan, vice president of marketing for Chelan, the video game will be released on June 21, followed by the movie on June 24. Chelan’s cherries ship during the mid-June through August window, and Mr. Riggan said the market window is perfect for the “Cars 2” tie-in.

PEAKfreshUSA, headquartered in Lake Forest, CA, is providing the Northwest cherry industry with state-of-the-art packaging options. President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Ganzerla said that the company will bring the same innovative products to the region that have been available to California’s cherry growers since 2007.

While most watermelon producers have had a dicey spring, things have been pretty much right on target for Dulcinea Farms LLC in Ladera Ranch, CA, with its lineup of full-sized “Ruby Bliss” and “PureHeart” mini watermelons and Tuscan-style “White Bliss” white-netted cantaloupe.

The Tom Lange Co. Inc. in Springfield, IL, has some advantages in the watermelon business, and it is well-positioned to make use of them this spring. Not only is the company in its fourth season as a licensed distributor for Dole Food Co. Inc., it also controls its own transportation needs via its Lange Logistics subsidiary.