Judicious expansion put Top Brass in good spot in tight water years
Grape acreage at Vignolo Farms in Shafter, CA “has increased tremendously over the last 15 years,” according to Brett Dixon, president and sales manager of Top Brass Marketing Inc. in Bakersfield, CA, the exclusive sales and marketing agent for table grapes, wine grapes and potatoes grown and packed by Vignolo.
New varieties extend season, options at Anthony Vineyards
“There has been a lot of development” at Anthony Vineyards Inc. in Bakersfield, CA, as with the California grape industry in general in terms of “new varieties coming up in the fall,” said John Harley, vice president of sales and marketing, Aug. 5.
The introduction and expansion of those varieties “will extend our season, there is no doubt about that,” Harley said. Even with the early harvest this year on most varieties, with those increases “we will probably go into December, barring any weather issues.”
Autumn King vineyards will give Chuck Olsen bigger fall program
The Chuck Olsen Co. in Visalia, CA, which grows grapes in locations from the Delano area of Kern County north to the Visalia area, is looking forward to a good fall season, particularly if movement continues as good as it has been during the early part of the season, according to Jeff Olsen, president of the company.
“As of right now, everything seems to be moving OK,” he said Aug. 7. “Overall quality has been good.”
Majority of Columbine volume is late season varieties
The fall season is of particular importance to Columbine Vineyards in Delano, CA, “for the basic reason that that is where the heaviest volume is going to hit us,” said Anthony Stetson, sales manager in an interview with The Produce News Aug. 4. “For this company, the majority of our volume is in the later varieties” such as Scarlet Royal, Crimson, Autumn King, Black Globe, Red Globe and “of course” Columbine’s proprietary Holiday red seedless variety.
Crown Jewels looks to start fall grape promotions earlier than usual
Because the grape harvest in California’s San Joaquin Valley has been running earlier than normal and it was appearing, as of early August, that the earliness would continue into the fall varieties, Crown Jewels Produce LLC in Fresno, CA was contemplating starting fall promotions earlier than usual, according to Atomic Torosian, a partner in the company.
“We generally have some big grape promotions the first two weeks of September, but we are having to look at that to see if we can start some of them sooner than that,” Torosian said Aug. 4.
Vertical integration, consistent quality take SunnyGem to next business level
SunnyGem Produce LLC takes extreme pride in the quality of pomegranates it is growing and marketing from its base of operations in Dinuba, CA. “SunnyGem was started by farmer John Vidovich in 2012 to market fresh pomegranates,” President Brian Haley told The Produce News.
“He planted over 2,000 acres of pomegranates mostly after 2008.” Haley said. “He originally used marketing companies, but as his volume went up, [John made the decision] to start his own company. We wanted to control our market strategy, which is ‘Consistency of Quality’ through vertical integration.”
Growers shift production areas in search of water in California drought
It’s a recurring theme this year in California regardless of the commodity: availability of agricultural water, and the high cost of what water is available, is an almost universal concern.
Castle Rock will see growth in Autumn King and Scarlet Royal
At Castle Rock Vineyards in Richgrove, CA, as for the California table grape industry as a whole, the Autumn King, a relatively new green seedless variety, and Scarlet Royal, a relatively new red seedless variety, have become important varieties for the late season and continue to increase in volume, according to Jim Llano, sales manager.
Phillips Mushroom Farms says organics are picking up strongly
Kevin Donovan, national sales manager for Phillips Mushroom Farms in Kennett Square, PA, told The Produce News that the company is seeing strong interest in organic mushrooms at the retail level.
“Some retailers have been on the organic trend since the get-go, and others are just beginning to promote it,” said Donovan. “We are also seeing a lot of expansion of the organics section in produce departments today. We are promoting our organic line accordingly.”
Northwest pear exports to Mexico anticipated to set a new record
Mexico is commanding the leader board when it comes to exports of Northwest pears. Jeff Correa, international marketing director for the Pear Bureau Northwest, said the country is now the Northwest pear industry’s top export destination, accounting for nearly 42 percent of all Northwest pear exports. “This season, we are on pace for a new record in export volume in Mexico — four million boxes,” he told The Produce News.