Ocean Mist Farms, based in Castroville, CA, completed the upgrade and expansion of its Baja Mist production facility in order to increase Mexico-grown product offerings. The company celebrated the opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony May 23 at the facility located in the Mexicali Valley of Mexico.

You can’t argue with the numbers. Domex Superfresh Growers, headquartered in Yakima, WA, is bracing for double-digit increases in its conventional and organic pear volumes this season.

Marketing and Communications Manager Loren Queen provided the snapshot. “Conventional pears will be up 15 percent,” he told The Produce News July 27.

By the time 2012 rolls around, Green Tree International will hit its fourth year benchmark brokering pears from the Pacific Northwest. The company is headquartered in Visalia, CA, and has a brokerage office in Wenatchee, WA.

Spotlight promotions are planned this pear season for the pre-ripened Concorde by Chelan Fresh Marketing in Chelan, WA, according to Vice President of Marketing Mac Riggan.

Mr. Riggan said July 27 that the dessert-sweet Concorde lends itself very well to pre-ripening, and he called the pear “one of the best-eating pieces of fruit you can find.”

He said, “It has a vanilla-almond essence when it’s ripe, and the flavor of the Concorde is just outstanding.”

By the time Columbia Marketing International, based in Wenatchee, WA, is ready to harvest its first pears of the 2011-12 season, the pipeline will be empty. “Import pears are cleaning up,” Vice President of Marketing Bob Mast told The Produce News July 26. “People want to get into the new pear crop as soon as they can.”

Stemilt Growers Inc. is expanding its RipeRite pear ripening program this season. Director of Marketing Roger Pepperl said two new Thermal Tech ripening rooms have been added this season to condition pears. “The pressurized, high-tech rooms get retailers into the ripened program,” he told The Produce News July 25.

Stemilt is located in Wenatchee, WA. Distribution of production acreage in the Wenatchee Valley allows the company to grow a full pear manifest and harvest later into the production season. Conventional pear volume is expected to be up 15 percent this season.