Jeff Danner, general manager of Eastern Propak LLC in Glassboro, NJ, told The Produce News June 28 that he is highly optimistic about this season’s New Jersey peach and nectarine programs, which he anticipates will run through mid-September. He also concurred with others who are reporting that New Jersey peaches got a 10-day to two-week jump start on the season due to the warm winter and spring this year.

“We started packing on June 19, which is a good two weeks earlier than our normal start time,” said Mr. Danner. “We were picking varieties that historically we would not be packing until July 4 or later. By the week of June 23, we were moving full force.”

He noted that it is too early in the season to determine if there will be an early finish to New Jersey peaches.

“The weather will be the big equalizer as we move further into the season,” he added. “Much is based on how the weather affects the maturation of the fruit. We could have an early end, but I wouldn’t bet on it at this point.”

Mr. Danner said that the quality on the Jeff Danner, general manager of Eastern Propak.early fruit looks outstanding and should make a great appearance on produce department shelves. How retailers promote the fruit has a lot to do with how prices hold. While locally grown programs can help move the fruit, some retailers opt to buy based on price rather than where the product is grown. He added that the Jersey Fresh program is huge and hopefully retailers would remain loyal to it.

Eastern Propak offers year-round cold storage and a comprehensive repack operation. It takes both domestic and imported fruits and stores them for customers. The company, which was founded 16 years ago, is owned by a cooperative of growers. It packs New Jersey peaches under the “Jersey Fruit” label. Sunny Valley International Inc., also in Glassboro, markets the fruit produced under the label.

The company has done some major expansions over the past few years. It is now heavily invested in Chilean imports, and it has broadened its domestic supply base.

“We now have a sizeable —and growing — summer citrus program,” said Mr. Danner. “We are handling a wide range of fruits from South America, Europe and South Africa. Our citrus bagging program has grown tremendously — so much so that we have added two bagging lines in the past few years.

Eastern Propak packs peaches for 10 weeks and handles the primary and most popular peach varieties each year. Mr. Danner said that varieties are seasonal and the packinglines are kept operational by the smooth transition from one variety to the next.

“We handle somewhere between 12 and 15 varieties,” he said. “There are about 100 peach varieties grown in New Jersey, but the growers grow the select few that work best for them.

“There is one new variety — the Gloria — that is making big waves today,” he continued. “We started packing them two years ago but with light volumes because the trees were still very young. We increased the volumes last year, and this year we’re expecting a nice marketable crop. The Gloria has a great shelf life, terrific color and it has wonderful eating characteristics. Peaches are typically packed hard and then softened up between the grocers’ shelves and the consumer. The Gloria has shown the ability to stay hard on the tree until it reaches full maturity. From a grower perspective, that’s a home run.”

Mr. Danner said that he doesn’t expect there to be an overlap or glut on the peach market this year due to the southern states also starting early.

“We do know that we have a wonderful and abundant crop of some of the finest quality peaches and nectarines imaginable this year,” he said, “and we expect to have good supplies through mid-September.”