Garlic acreage for Christopher Ranch LLC in Gilroy, CA for the 2014 harvest is similar to 2013, and with the harvest well under way, yields appear normal, according to President Bill Christopher. That is an improvement over last year, when “yields were off about 10 or 15 percent,” he told The Produce News July 22.

Next year could be a different story, however. “We are very concerned about next year with the lack of water,” he said.

Depending on whether the three-year drought continues and whether or not government water agencies release more water for agricultural use next season, keeping production at current levels could be a challenge for 2015. But planting decisions must be made before there are answers to those questions.

Christopher Ranch’s biggest priority this fall will be “trying to find areas that have water, so we can keep putting in the same number of acres,” Christopher said.

A box of Christopher Ranch Monviso variety garlic. (Photo courtesy of Christopher Ranch LLC)As for the current crop, “we are right in the middle of our harvest,” he said. “We are all done topping our Early garlic. We are topping the Late now. The yields are normal, which is good,” because yields were down a little last year.

“We are looking for a great garlic season this year,” he said. “We have great customers, and whatever challenges there are, we will face them and make sure everybody gets their California garlic.”

One of Christopher Ranch’s main garlic varieties, Monviso, originated in the Piedmont region of Italy and Christopher Ranch has been growing it for over 50 years.

“We still have our Monviso program, and we are having quite a bit of success, especially with chefs, and for foodservice, because they are the ones who look at the flavor profile,” Christopher said. “for them it is very important to have the same flavor all the time.” The flavor of the Monviso variety is more intense than other commercial varieties and is consistent, so chefs can work with it and achieve consistent results, he said. “So we are very pleased with the way that is going.”

Christopher Ranch debuted a new label for the Monviso garlic in August 2011. On that occasion, the company issued a press release stating, “Over 50 years ago, Don Christopher, the company founder, came upon the most flavorful variety of garlic he had ever tasted. As its origins were in the Piedmont area of Italy, he christened the variety ‘Monviso’ for the region’s peaks and immediately set about nurturing the seed on his ranch in California’s Santa Clara Valley. Five decades later, Christopher Ranch proudly continues to cultivate and harvest the Monviso varietal exclusively, choosing to deliver garlic of exceptional flavor rather than plant higher-yielding, inferior-tasting varieties. In fact, Christopher Ranch Monviso is the only heirloom garlic commercially grown in the U.S. today.”

Christopher Ranch offers garlic in a variety of forms, from whole fresh bulbs and peeled garlic to an assortment of jarred value added products.

“We are actually seeing a little bit more business in the whole bulb garlic,” Christopher said. “The peeled garlic was the big push for a long time, and now all of a sudden people are coming back to the whole bulb. I think it is because it will store a little longer” so people don’t have to use it up as quickly.

Jarred product sales “are still about the same,” he said. “It is pretty steady. It doesn’t really go up or down. People that like them use them. But it seems like the new business is going toward the fresh and the peeled garlic.