Harvest Crown, which is headquartered in Bakersfield, CA, has added a Los Angeles office to go along with its Florida division for its Peruvian asparagus deal, as well as for the other fresh produce items that it imports.

Harold Crawford, chief executive officer of the importer-distributor, said that the addition of the Los Angeles office helps the company bring product to both coasts for its nationwide distribution program. The Los Angeles office is managed by Ray Gutierrez with Jan McDaniels assisting in sales. The office opened in April.

Los Angeles based Gourmet Trading Co., a worldwide importer and distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables, is introducing a new product this year from its Peruvian asparagus deal: a tri-color pack that combines green, purple and white asparagus.

Ayco Farms Inc. in Pompano Beach, FL, which already claims to be one of the top-five importers of Peruvian asparagus, expects significant growth this year as a result of a strengthening of its procurement practices.

“We think we will have sustained growth of 25-35 percent this year,” said Peter Warren, who bears the title of asparagus salesperson. “We have changed how we are going about procuring product. And by doing that, we have improved the quality of our pack, and that is going to increase our retail business. It is a cause-and-effect kind of thing.”

Though it is going to be a challenging year because of economic conditions, Alpine Fresh Inc. is expecting to increase its volume of Peruvian asparagus this year led by new production of purple asparagus.

“Stevco’s program is set up to where a large percentage of our volume is shipped in the fall, during the months of September through December,” said Jared Lane, vice president of sales and marketing.

The Grape Guys in Cutler, CA, considers itself primarily a red grape house, in that it is “heaviest to Flames and Crimsons,” according to Shaun Ricks, the company’s founder and president.

The Flame crop this year has been “excruciating[ly]“ slow to come on this year, he said Aug. 4. “We expect to use the whole month of August to get our Flames in.”