When the California Table Grape Commission released its preseason estimate on the 2011 fresh grape crop, there appeared to be a good possibility that the state could ship more than 100 million boxes of fresh grapes this year, for the first time ever.

The industry came close to that in 2010, with the final tally hitting 98.3 million boxes, or 97.7 million in 19-pound box equivalents. The 2011 estimate called for a record 99 million boxes, close enough to the 100 million-box threshold to be almost statistically insignificant. It could easily have happened.

Over the last year, Yerington, NV-based Peri & Sons Farms has invested more than $5 million in its onion-packing facility in Firebaugh, CA, adding a new cold storage shed, automated pallet-builder weigh station and other efficiency-driven improvements to handle anticipated growth in the coming years.

In a July 7 press release, Alex Barry, general manager of the Firebaugh site, said, “The improvements and

Stemilt Growers is taking Rainier cherries to an even higher level with a new, state-of-the-art optical sizer and in-line cluster cutter. The new equipment allows Stemilt to size large-sized Rainiers with precision in order to deliver a premium pack to the marketplace.

Driven by a vision for a local farm that would offer New York chefs and retailers the freshest and highest-quality culinary ingredients year-round at competitive prices, Viraj Puri and Eric Haley developed their first greenhouse facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY, in 2008. In 2009, the partners joined forces with Jenn Nelkin, a nationally renowned greenhouse expert, as a partner to head Gotham Greens’ greenhouse operations. The first harvest at the greenhouse was in June of this year.

LOS ANGELES — “I’ve got my daughter here. She just graduated college and is going to grad school, “ said Ted Kaplan, president of Professional Produce, here. Sydney Kaplan graduated from Chapman University in Orange, CA, and is working at Professional for the summer. “She is learning the business before she goes to grad school,” doing “a little bit of everything.”

LOS ANGELES — Moreno Bros. 2, here, is a new company that opened its doors just two years ago. But founder and President Anthony (Tony) Moreno regards the new venture as a continuation of a multi-generational family tradition that goes back a hundred years.