Oliver Wolf, executive chef with J.W. Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Desert Springs, CA, will be representing the Californa Date Administrative Committee and its grower members at the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit in Anaheim, CA, in October and “is going to be making some wonderful creations with dates in them,” according to Manager Lorrie Cooper.

“Since this is pretty much our home territory, we thought we would take our professional chef with us,” she said.

Mr. Wolf “has Oliver Wolf, executive chef with J.W. Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa.done some wonderful things for us” in the past and will be working with the date committee in conjunction with various other special events during the 2012-13 season, she said.

In February, “we partnered with the American Heart Association to do a cocktail reception at one of the high-end jewelry stores on El Paseo,” a world-famous upscale shopping district in Palm Desert, CA. Mr. Wolf “created the food for the event, and it was an absolute hit.” The people that attended the event, who are major AHA donors in the Palm Springs area, “were very impressed,” Ms. Cooper said.

The date committee has contracted with AHA “to do the same type of event” in 2013, she said. “Oliver will be hosting that again for us” and will again be preparing the food. “It is going to be called ‘Open Your Heart,’ “ and it will be the kick-off for the AHA Coachella Valley Chapter’s 2013 Go Red for Women campaign.

The Medjool and Deglet Noor varieties of fresh California dates were certified last year as heart-healthy by the American Heart Association and are authorized to use the AHA’s Heart Check Mark, meaning that they meet the AHA’s criteria for low levels of saturated fat and cholesterol, according to the website of the California Date Administrative Committee.

“We have renewed that again for this year, so this will be our second year,” said Ms. Cooper. “We are going to be using the Heart Check Mark certification logo not only on our website and some of our promotional materials, but we have four handlers who have signed up to put that logo on their brand.”

The date committee will again be involved with the Fancy Food Show this coming year, Ms. Cooper said. “We are not exhibiting, but we will be doing some sponsorships with some of the DPGs [dietary program groups] as we have done in previous years” and will be giving seminars on dates.

In planning for the coming year but not yet finalized as of late August, are a couple of other special events. “We are looking to do a sponsorship with Humana Challenge,” a PGA tournament formerly known as the Bob Hope Classic, she said. “We have approached them with the same concept of doing a similar cocktail reception” as the one with AHA for the tournament’s “VIPs and Pro-Am golfers.” Also, “we are approaching the Palm Springs Film Festival to do that same type of concept,” she said.

The California Date Administrative Committee is a federal marketing order covering date growers in Riverside County, which encompasses the Coachella Valley where most of the dates are grown.

The predominant date varieties grown in the Coachella Valley are Deglet Noor and Medjool. Plantings of both have been increasing, but Medjools have accounted for most of the growth. While Deglets are the major variety, many Deglets go into the ingredient market, whereas Medjools are all shipped fresh, according to Ms. Cooper.

“For the date crop this year, we are looking to see an increase in the harvest volume,” she said. The increase is expected to be up by 8 to 10 percent as young plantings come into bearing or increase in production. “A lot of the younger trees are beginning to produce more.”

The Medjool harvest was expected to begin early to mid-September and the deglets were expected to start in mid-October.

Growers in the Coachella Valley also grow small quantities of several other date varieties accounting for less than one percent of the total volume, she said.