Garber Farms enjoying responses from its newly launched website
Iota, LA-based Garber Farms launched its new website four months ago. “It is there mainly for general information, but we’re enjoying the responses that we’re getting to it,” said Matthew Garber, a company partner. “There is a video on the site that we had some fun creating and filming.”
Set to some real “down-home, Louisiana-style” music, the video takes viewers through Garber Farms’ operation, from the field to harvesting, storage, sorting, packing and sales.
Southern Specialties specializing in offshore produce for over 22 years
“With the exception of our heirloom tomatoes, Southern Specialties grows, imports and processes a wide range of products from Central and South America, Canada and Mexico,” Charlie Eagle, vice president of business development for the Pompano Beach, FL-based company told The Produce News. “Our line is compiled of ‘Southern Selects’ French beans, green and white asparagus, hand-peeled Brussels sprouts, hand-peeled baby carrots with tops, hand-peeled rainbow baby carrots with tops, sugar snap peas, snow peas, yellow beans, baby squash, limes and more.”
Mastronardi Produce: rebranding and expanding line of products
“Our new ‘Sunset’ brand was unveiled last fall at the PMA [Produce Marketing Association] Fresh Summit expo,” said Chris Veillon, marketing director for Mastronardi Produce, headquartered in Kingsville, ON. “We will now bring this same fresh new look — along with some other new concepts that we have been working on — to the Southeast Produce Council’s 2013 Southern Exposure in Orlando, FL, on Feb. 28–March 2.”
Village Farms’ signature greenhouse produce to be showcased at Southern Exposure
Village Farms International, headquartered in Eatontown, NJ, will be represented at Southern Exposure Retail & Foodservice Conference & Expo in Orlando, FL, this year by Douglas Kling, senior vice president and chief sales and marketing officer; Bret Wiley, vice president of sales operations; Steve Poklemba, regional sales manager and Alan Kleinman, eastern district sales manager.
Prime Time redoubles mini-sweet pepper production in Culiacan
Prime Time Sales LLC in Coachella, CA, exclusive sales agent for Prime Time International, which specializes in bell peppers year-round with production in Mexico and California, has in recent years added mini peppers to its offerings.
“This is our third season of growing them in Culiacan [Sinaloa, Mexico],” said Mike Aiton, marketing manager.
Bernardi: Tomato trade faces uncertainties with new suspension pact
Movement for Mexican-grown tomatoes this winter has been “very good across all parts of the country, and prices have been … above the minimum until this past week” when volume increased, said Joe Bernardi, president of Bernardi & Associates Inc. in Nogales, AZ, Feb. 8. “Now we have come into our typical heavy February volume, and prices are at or near the minimum on pretty much all the tomato items. We continue to have good distribution around the country. That is where we are currently.”
Grower Alliance expands significantly in Romas
“The biggest change we have from the past” for the spring deal this year is that “our Roma tomato deal will be a lot larger than it was last season, said Jorge Quintero Jr., managing partner of Grower Alliance LLC in Nogales, AZ. “We are expecting a Roma tomato deal … of about 500,000 boxes, which is a significant increase” from the 150,000 boxes of Romas the company shipped in the spring of 2012.
The deal will start in March and run to the middle of June, he said.
Malena Produce is now growing green bell peppers in shadehouses
Many colored bell peppers grown in Mexico, particularly blocky-style peppers, are grown in shadehouses, but the majority of green bell peppers are still grown open field. Many elongated red bell peppers are also grown open-field.
But at Malena Produce Inc. in Nogales, AZ, “what is new this year is we have green bell peppers grown under shadehouse down in Culiacan,” said Vice President Gonzalo Avila.
Daily Fresh spring program mainly cukes, squash, grapes
Daily Fresh Distributing Inc. in Nogales, AZ, now in its second year in business, will have primarily cucumbers, green and yellow squash and fresh grapes for its spring program this year, according to Paul Bachelier, who started the company in September 2011 after 18 years with Omega Produce Co.
The company had expected to also have green and red bell peppers through mid-March, but “we lost all our bells” due to a freeze in mid-January, he said.
Short supplies, high prices make firms like Thomas Produce vital
The impact of the freeze that hit northern Mexico in mid-January may be temporary, but it was not insignificant, as short supplies consequent to the freeze and high prices consequent to the diminished supply on a number of commodities were expected to continue to the end of March. For a retail buyer, that is six to seven weeks worth of frustration and disruption to a supermarket’s usual plans for the season