As Christmas approaches, Florida Classic Growers of Lake Hamilton, FL, is taking advantage of a bumper crop of top-quality Florida citrus to boost its holiday gift and fundraising programs, according to Vice President of Sales and Marketing Al Finch.

“This has been an outstanding year and season,” Mr. Finch said. “We have had excellent arrivals on our citrus. Demand has definitely picked up — over the last month there has been lots of retail promotion on bagged tangerines and bagged Navels as well as bagged juice oranges.”

Most crops do not start a season at optimal quality, and Florida citrus is no exception — usually. That is not the case this year, according to David Mixon, chief marketing officer of Seald Sweet International in Vero Beach, FL.

Potandon Produce LLC, headquartered in Idaho Falls, ID, continues to expand its presence on the Internet to connect with customers and consumers. The company, one of the larger marketers of fresh potatoes and one of the larger marketers of onions in North America, holds exclusive licensing rights to the “Green Giant Fresh” brand for fresh potatoes and onions. Potandon also holds the licensing rights of the “Sunspiced” brand for retail and foodservice.

Excellent quality and increasing demand are the winning sales formula for Sweet Clover Produce’s Red Wing single-center red onions this holiday season, according to Pat Brownfield, sales agent at the Walla Walla, WA, operation.

Mr. Brownfield told The Produce News Nov. 29 that onion movement was gaining momentum as the Christmas holidays approached, and he said that the week leading up to Thanksgiving was one of the best the sales periods company had seen, with approximately 100 loads shipped.

Pleasant Valley Potato Inc., headquartered in Aberdeen, ID, has been in the potato business for 50 years. Chet Wahlen founded the company, and today the family-operated business continues to thrive. “We feel we’ve brought the old-fashioned virtues of farming to the new technology of packaging and shipping, joining the best work of man with the best work of Mother Nature,” the company’s web site states.

Wilcox Fresh has embraced its historic roots as a premier grower-shipper of quality potatoes and onions with the introduction of its “Mother Earth Fresh” label. Jim Richter, executive vice president of sales and marketing, said that this represents a new and exciting direction for the company, which had been allied with the “Birds Eye Fresh” label since 1999.