Legend Produce LLC, which grows melons from many districts but is headquartered in Glendale, CA, is anticipating a 30-35 percent increase in its San Joaquin Valley melon crop this year because of the popularity of its proprietary Origami variety.

“We will be up considerably this year because the Origami was so well-received last year,” said Barry Zwillinger, who is the owner of the company.

He sang the praises of this variety, on which Legend has an exclusive growing deal with the seed company that developed it. “It has phenomenal Brix, great aroma, great flavor, a tight seed cavity, thin rind, great color and very good shelf life,” he noted, checking off virtually every characteristic in which he believes it is superior to other cantaloupe varieties.

The longtime melon industry participant said Origami is a full-slip melon, which means when it is ripe the melon easily “slips” off the stem. Zwillinger said this is what creates the great aroma.

He said the Origami variety tends to produce large fruit with most of it being 9s or jumbo 9s. “It’s a variety that produces a large piece of fruit. Probably 80 percent are 9s. That’s what the retail trade likes so that’s what we want to give them,” he added.

Legend Produce is a year-round shipper of melons, with Zwillinger claiming the company is the largest year-round grower-distributor of cantaloupes in the country. Its western United States production of cantaloupes began on April 27 from Brawley, CA. That was soon followed by its production from Yuma, AZ, a week later and now the Arizona district around the city of Maricopa has kicked in. He said the start dates in both Brawley and Yuma were considerably earlier than last year, and in fact, the earliest he has ever seen. Production from Huron on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley is expected to kick in by the end of June. Zwillinger said the target date for his company’s melons from nearby Mendota is the Fourth of July.

Zwillinger has also greatly increased his melon production farther north in the Woodland district, west of Sacramento.

“We have no water issues up there at all,” he said. “Last year we experimented with melons from Woodlands and they were great. This year we are growing 700 acres up there.”

The Legend executive said the Origami acreage dominated his early fields out of the California desert, commanding 80 percent of the acreage. In Maricopa, which provides much of the production in June, about 20 percent of the firm’s acreage is with that new variety. “In California, about 50 percent is Origami and 50 percent other varieties. The reason it is not a higher percentage is because we want to maximize the expectations for this variety. At certain times the quality of this variety isn’t perfect and we don’t want to risk its reputation. We only grow it when the growing conditions are perfect. It needs a nice hot climate.”

Zwillinger also touted the company’s office in Kentucky, with Don and Kristie Johnson handling sales to specifically concentrate on selling wholesalers on the East Coast. He said this extra sales effort is another reason he increased his cantaloupe acreage significantly this year.