Wenatchee, WA-based Stemilt Growers recently completed two charitable efforts. The company has donated to a scholarship fund and raised money to fund the American Cancer Society.

Education

Kyle Mathison and Jay Fulbright of Stemilt Growers presented Washington Apple Education Foundation Executive Director Jennifer Witherbee with a check for $8,500 July 5. The funds for the check came from the proceeds of the third-annual Thomas K. Mathison Memorial Golf Tournament, which was held May 19 in Wenatchee.

Epic Roots, a Monterey, CA-based grower and distributor of specialty produce, has debuted new consumer product labels and a renewed focus on its Central California Coast identity.

Since its inception in 1998, Epic Roots has been well known for its Mâche, a sweet and nutty green originally imported from France. Over the years, the company has diversified its offerings to include rainbow chard and two new products to be released this summer: Wasabi Arugula (a hybrid of arugula and Japanese horseradish) and crisp and crunchy salad (petite-size Romaine, green leaf and Radicchio).

For the second year in a row, Gilroy, CA-based Christopher Ranch has achieved a 98 percent score on its annual processing safety audit, earning a “superior” rating. For the firm’s customers, the results assure that Christopher Ranch product is as safe to use as it is flavorful.

Although weather has been the talk of the nation in 2011, Mother Nature has been kind to onion producer Fagerberg Produce. “The crop looks really good,” Sales Manager Alan Kinoshita told The Produce News June 24. “We’re expecting great quality and great yields.”

The company, located in Eaton, CO, works with a grower network producing reds, yellows and whites. A total of 1,400 acres was planted to onions this season, up slightly from 2010. Weather was cooler than normal during the growing season, but Mr. Kinoshita said that the heat units are catching up at just the right time.

A late April freeze resulted in limited cherry volume for United Marketing Exchange in Delta, CO, but Mike Gibson, the company’s sales manager, said in late June that the packer-shipper expected to see a “great pear crop” coming off in late August.

“We had a very short cherry season,” Mr. Gibson said. “Peaches will also be down due to the cold weather earlier in the spring.”

Peaches will start shipping in early August and clean up Sept. 8-10.

“But our pear crop looks very good,” he said, noting that it should run into early October.

Cool temperatures during the growing season have set Western Slope growers Brent and Brenton Hines back seven to 10 days on their sweet corn and possibly two weeks on their onions, according to Hines Farm owner Jerry Hines.

During the third week of June, Mr. Hines, father of Brent and grandfather of Brenton, said that he will continue to run the onion shed near Delta, CO, while the two younger generations handle the farming.

“We are also sorting outside onions,” Jerry Hines said.