Since the debut of the new “Monviso California Heirloom Garlic” label by Christopher Ranch LLC in Gilroy, CA, last year, demand for the product has been strong, and the company has plans to continue increasing production by 10 percent each year, according to a company press release.

The label is used for a particularly flavorful variety of garlic that the company has been growing for more than half a century.

At the time of the new label’s introduction in August 2011, Christopher Ranch issued a release telling the “Monviso” story: “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 Patsy Rossregion’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 Moviso garlic is the only heirloom garlic commercially grown in the U.S. today.”

Since that introduction, sales “have been consistent all year, with no drop off in peeled garlic sales or prices that usually occur when Chinese garlic enters the market, according to the release.

“Both our chef and processing customers report that the Monviso variety is two to three times more flavorful than Chinese garlic, negating any perceived price difference,” said Rick Dyer, national accounts manager for Christopher Ranch, in the release.

Mr. Dyer and “other proponents of California garlic are aggressively promoting these differences and raising awareness about the benefits of California-grown,” the release sstated.

“Christopher Ranch leads with strength, giving operators flavor and quality as points of differentiation, as well as connection to our growers and the Christopher Ranch heritage,” Mr. Dyer said in the release.

“Our focus continues to be on the ‘Monviso’ variety and educating people on the differences,” Patsy Ross, vice president of marketing, told The Produce News. “Specifically between the ‘Monviso’ variety and imports there is a big flavor profile [difference].” Some restaurants are now actually specifying the “Monviso” as “a flavor profile that they want in their restaurants for that consistent flavor.”

Most garlic grown in California is one of two varieties, California Early and California Late. According to Ms. Ross, Christopher has, over the years, generally referred to its heirloom garlic variety as late garlic, but it is, in actuality, a distinctive cultivar, she explained. “We didn’t just rename our late garlic ‘Monviso.’ Our late variety garlic is an heirloom garlic that we have had for over 50 years. It originated in Italy and we selected it year after year for our proprietary seed program for flavor, not yield or volume.”

Unlike many companies in the garlic business, who will sometimes “trade fields or … use somebody else’s garlic for planting, or that kind of thing, we kept a handle on this ourselves. That is why it is proprietary, and that is why we can say this is our variety,” as distinct from the California Late variety generally grown in the industry.

Christopher Ranch “had a lot of success with our ‘Monviso’ display box last year,” Ms. Ross said. “Retailers appreciate having more information. Consumers want education and they want information. So having an attractive box with some information on it for some retailers has proven to be a success.”

Following on the coattails of the success of that display box, this year Christopher Ranch has introduced a newly designed “Monoviso” box honoring the Gilroy Garlic Festival. It includes photos of popular Garlic Festival recipes, “then we put a QR code on [the carton], so people with smart phones can [scan] that, and it takes them straight to the recipes and they can make their own garlic festival recipes at home,” Ms. Ross said.