Christopher Ranch is continuing to promote its “Monviso” heirloom garlic, a product that is proving popular with retailers. “Christopher Ranch is excited about the upcoming garlic season,” said Patsy Ross, marketing director for in Gilroy, CA-based company, which has a Northeast division in Edison, NJ, to service the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Cooperative Market.

Giumarra Wenatchee will jazz up its line of commodities imported from New Zealand this season with two limited offerings: the Lemonade and Smitten apple varieties.

Giumarra Cos. is headquartered in Los Angeles, with operations in Wenatchee, WA. The company was created in 1922 and markets a full manifest of apples, pears, kiwifruit and other commodities in the United States.

Rod Bangert, general manager of the Carolina Blueberry Association in Garland, NC, said that blueberry growers in the state started picking on May 1, about 10 days ahead of schedule this year.

The California potato deal is underway with red, white and yellow potatoes already being shipped and the russet deal aiming for an early-June start. So far the markets aren’t great, but those involved in the deal say that June and July could see a reversal of fortunes.

A proposed settlement in the Adams Produce bankruptcy case that has been approved by a majority of the PACA Trust claimants is being opposed by a minority group that is calling it a “rush to judgment.”

Herb Abrash of Andrew Bros. Inc., located at the Detroit Produce Terminal Market, died May 13 of complications related to kidney disease. He was 79 years old.