The vision and foresight of one man built a pathway into the future. Roger Pepperl, director of marketing for Stemilt Growers Inc. in Wenatchee, WA, attributes the company’s success in the organic arena to company founder Tom Mathison.

“Tom Mathison, who has since passed away, took Stemilt into a path of organic production and organic practices as a response to the Alar crisis, a growth regulator for apples, in which apples were attacked on a “60 Minutes” segment with Meryl Streep on a health-risk issue,” Mr. Pepperl told The Produce News on Aug. 24.

Giorgio Fresh Company in Temple, PA, a leading and fully integrated mushroom producer, became a certified-organic grower on March 11, 2004, certified by Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO).

Bill Litvin, regional sales and national account manager for the company, said that its organic line of fresh mushrooms includes whole white, sliced white, Baby Bella, Portabella caps, Portabella sliced and Shiitake mushrooms.

“Giorgio Fresh’s organic line has been fairly stable,” said Mr. Litvin. “We recently added sliced white mushrooms in response to customer demand for the item.”

Wholesale distributor, Albert’s Organics, headquartered in Santa Cruz, CA, is a full-service organic-produce wholesale distributor that carries a complete line of organic fresh produce.

Simcha Weinstein, director of marketing for the company, told The Produce News that it has had a good first half to two-thirds of the year.

Homegrown Organic Farms in Porterville, CA, will be offering organic clementines from Bakersville, CA, in the South San Joaquin Valley for the first time this year.

“This is a new block that we planted, and the fruit is coming into production this year,” said Scott Mabs, director of marketing. “There are only a few organic clementines on the market today, so we’re very excited to have this program.”

The organic clementines will run from the end of November through early January. They are offered in 2- and 3-pound bags, 4-pound display boxes and in bulk.

Marina Pace, marketing representative for Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo Inc., a Pescadero, CA-based organic grower and distributor, told The Produce News that an important development at the company is the construction of 20 additional acres of new shade houses at the company’s Baja California production areas.

“The additional acreage will help boost winter production of Del Cabo basil, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes,” said Ms. Pace. “We have also added a wash/dry line to our Los Angeles facility, specifically for our ‘Del Cabo’ brand retail packaged peas.”

Maurice A. Auerbach Inc., located in South Hackensack, NJ, is the largest distributor of garlic and specialty produce in the Northeast. The company’s organic line consists of garlic and shallots.

Bruce Klein, director of marketing, told The Produce News that the company’s accounts, especially the more upscale retailers, are remaining strongly committed to organics.