Solution for fire blight a top priority for organic pear, apple industries
The clock is ticking as producers seek alternative methods to prevent fire blight from decimating organic pear and apple orchards. Use of oxytetracycline, one of the major agents to control the disease, will not be permitted as of October 2014.
Chilean avocado volume expected to be up by more than 30 percent over last year
The Chilean Avocado Importers Association expects a volume increase of 30 to 35 percent over last year, with the main season for Chilean avocados extending from September through March, according to a written statement from the association to The Produce News. “Promotable volumes will be available throughout the fall and winter months, with marketing programs put in place to support retail sales,” the statement said.
Jerry Wagner retires from Farmer's Best after 27 years
Jerry Wagner, director of sales and marketing at Farmer's Best International LLC in Nogales, AZ, retired Friday, Aug. 9, on his 56th birthday, after 27 seasons with the company and a produce career that goes back to his school days.
"I started working for my dad, who was a broker, after school while I was in high school," Wagner told The Produce News. He continued working for his father's company, Wagner Distributing, while in college.
Stevco’s biggest volume increase this year is in Autumn King variety
The fall varieties are where the California table grape industry has seen the most growth recently, including this year, and the same is true for Stevco as a company.
Based in Los Angeles with offices in Bakersfield and Coachella, Stevco is a vertical operation, producing all of its own fruit through its subsidiary farming company, Lucich Farms.
Anthony Vineyards’ growth for fall season is heavy to red seedless varieties
Anthony Vineyards Inc. in Bakersfield, CA, will have volume increases for the fall grape deal in both its conventional and organic production, according to John Harley, vice president of sales and marketing.
The increases are mainly in red seedless varieties, he said.
With the season running a little early this year, Anthony Vineyards expected to be into several fall varieties by the first of September. “We will be into Scarlet Royals, Autumn Royals, Sweet Scarlets and Luiscos, more than likely,” by that date, Harley said.
Sundale’s major focus for late season is on the Autumn King
As “one of the largest growers in the [San Joaquin] Valley of Autumn Kings, that variety of green seedless table grape “is going to be a staple for us on the back end of the season,” said Sean Stockton, president of Sundale Sales Inc. in Tulare, CA.
SGS, known for its late grapes, has growth in proprietary SGS Red, others
“We are known for our late season program,” said Louis Scattaglia, managing partner at Scattaglia Growers & Shippers LLC in Traver, CA. “We can harvest fresh grapes into December. As long as the weather cooperates, we are going to have a strong late-season grape deal.”
SGS grows, packs and ships a full lineup of table grape varieties in the central San Joaquin Valley, from early-season Flames to late-season Autumn Kings, but proprietary varieties exclusive to SGS are an increasingly important part of the company’s grape program.
Family Tree Farms will have strong volumes of stone fruit well into fall
Retailers often begin changing the sets of their produce departments around the first of September, switching over to fall fruit. In the process, stone fruit, which is generally regarded as a summer fruit, sometimes loses its place on the shelf.
The retailers do that because “they are so used to doing that. That is what history tells them to do,” said Doug LaCroix, a salesman at Family Tree Farms Marketing LLC in Reedley, CA.
Columbine has Holiday red seedless late Sept. through Thanksgiving
“The end of September, we will start packing our famous ‘Holiday Seedless,’ “ said Anthony Stetson, sales manager at Columbine Vineyards in Delano, CA.
“Holiday Seedless” is a registered trademark for a patented late-season red grape variety exclusive to Columbine.
“This year’s crop looks very nice,” Stetson said Aug. 7. “It’s got good size and good bunch conformation, and volume looks to be excellent.”
Transportation situation eases as summer moves on
In late May the crush for transportation to fill Memorial Day orders was at a fever pitch. That proved to be a harbinger of things to come as June and July saw a very tight transportation situation.
In fact, recently Chuck Thomas of Thomas Produce Sales in Nogales, AZ, told The Produce News, “In May and June, I saw some rates I’d never seen before. Trucks were getting from $8,500 to $8,800 to go to the East Coast from Nogales. I heard of some $10,000 rates from Salinas to Boston and New England. It was unbelievable.”