Beginning in 2014, King Fresh Produce LLC will supply its retail and wholesale customers with California cherries. The company acquired the license to market cherries through an agreement with Farmington Fresh Sales LLC, based in Stockton, CA.

Cherries are being marketed under the "Farmington Fresh," "Hy-Flyer" and "Mary Ellen" labels. Private label is also available at customer request.King Fresh California cherries are being marketed under the 'Farmington Fresh,' 'Hy-Flyer' and 'Mary Ellen' labels.

King Fresh, located in Dinuba, CA, is a year-round supplier of table grapes, tree fruit, pomegranates, berries and citrus.

"There is a need for a family-owned packing and marketing company to service local cherry growers in the southern San Joaquin Valley," said Keith Wilson, president of King Fresh. "Given the alternative of packing at a nearby, modern facility in the early cherry-growing districts, growers and customers will see a value in transportation cost savings, reduced food miles and increased freshness by loading cherries at the same location with stone fruit, blueberries and grapes offered by King Fresh."

The company plans to install state-of-the-art cherry equipment at its 50,000-square-foot packinghouse and cold storage location near Kingsburg, CA.

"[It is] year one, and we are very excited to offer first-of-the-season California cherries to our customers this year," said Rene Millburn, public relations director, who said that by 2015 the company expects to market 350,000 cases of cherries.

Asked about production conditions during the current season, Millburn said, "Central California had a very light cherry crop this year due to a combination of low chill hours and lack of winter rain. The winter rains are needed in order to obtain the correct type and amount of chill hours.

"We are currently growing and marketing Brooks, Tulare, Coral, Rainier and Bing cherries," she added. "We have some new varieties coming into production as well."

The harvest began April 25 and will continue through June 5. "King Fresh is anticipating upwards of 150,000 cases to be available to consumers this season," she said. "[We have] great quality and nice sizing this year."

More information about King Fresh is available at the company's redesigned website, www.kingfresh.com, which made its debut on May 1.

"The site's homepage welcomes visitors with tasteful colors, a clean uncluttered design and moving images in order to provide our customers with accurate and detailed product information," said Millburn. "By moving to a more user-friendly layout, we allow visitors to access information based on their own choice rather than sift through everything in order to find what is of interest to them."

The company's motto is "Large Enough to Serve, Small Enough to Care," and the website includes The Grape Aficionados Blog, which features articles and anecdotes, industry-related news and events, recipes, videos and presentations. The site also contains an enter-to-win section for a monthly "Great Grape Giveaway."

Millburn said site visitors can contact King Fresh through the website and sign up for the blog and visit the company's social media sites accessible through badge links on the improved site.