FRESNO, CA — As with many grape shippers in California’s San Joaquin Valley, Crown Jewels Produce Co., here, continues to expand its offerings with the addition of several recently developed table grape varieties.

“Each year, we keep picking up some of the new varieties, like Vintage Red, Sweet Scarlet and Scarlet Royal,” said Atomic Torosian, managing partner. Those are all red seedless varieties.

CUTLER, CA — “We consider ourselves [primarily] a red house in that we are heaviest to Flames and Crimsons,” Shaun Ricks, president of The Grape Guys, here, said July 7. “But we do have a chunk of Thompsons, and we are pretty optimistic about the Thompson deal this year.”

July typically means the start of the melon deal in California's San Joaquin Valley, but that is not the case this year. The cold spring weather, which limited the production of grapes and tree fruit, has greatly affected the early Central Valley cantaloupe deal.

"Everyone starts planting in Huron, the southwestern section of the valley, in early March so that we will have melons as close to July 1 as we can," said Jim Malanca of Westside Produce in Firebaugh, CA. "On May 1, the crop looked like it was on schedule, but we had a very erratic May, and the timing has changed."

Produce industry representatives were elated by the news July 6 that the United States and Mexico inked a deal ending their two-year trade dispute that immediately cut in half Mexico’s retaliatory tariffs that were placed on many U.S. products in 2009. Those tariffs will be eliminated completely once the new transportation program is up and running.

The California Avocado Commission and the Copper River Salmon-Prince William Sound Marketing Association have partnered for a promotion that aims to encourage consumer demand for avocados and wild salmon through innovative usage ideas, recipes and joint point-of-sale materials.

WEATHER

Salinas, CA: Daytime temperatures will be in the mid-60s to low 70s through July 12 with overnight lows in the low 50s. There is no threat of rain heading into mid-July.

Fresno, CA: Daytime temperatures will remain in the low 100s through July 7, then ease into the mid- to upper 90s through July 12. Overnight lows will be in the low to mid-70s through July 8, then ease into the upper 60s through July 12.

DEMAND