Gourmet Trading labeling Chilean blues with ‘Green Giant Fresh’ label
Luciano Fiszman, procurement manager for Gourmet Trading Co. in Los Angeles said that the company distributes blueberries that are produced from the 5th Region to the 10th Region of Chile into both coasts of the United States, Canada and to Asia.
“Our season begins in November with a perfect transition from Argentina and ends in April, right when we start with our own crop in California,” said Mr. Fiszman. We grow, pack and ship blueberries from our farm in the Central Valley of California.”
At Sun Crest-Bollinger International, it all comes down to customer service
The Nogales, AZ, office of Monterey, CA-based Sun Crest-Bollinger International Inc. is basically a brokerage operation handling a full line of the produce commodities that come through Nogales.
Fresh Farms triples cuke program
“What is new for our company is we have really expanded our cucumber program this year by probably threefold,” said Jerry Havel, director of sales and marketing for Fresh Farms in Nogales, AZ. With a significant increase in acreage, the company now has “a very large cucumber program that includes outside pole-grown cucumbers” from the state of Sonora, Mexico, “and also shadehouse cucumbers from Sonora.”
Congress votes to extend farm bill until Sept. 30
Washington — A nine-month extension of the 2008 farm bill is in the massive tax legislation passed by the House Jan. 1 to stave off the so-called fiscal cliff. This extends the deadline by which Congress has to write a five-year bill.
The House voted 257 to 167 to extend the Bush-era tax breaks and raise tax brackets on households making more than $450,000 a year, among other changes. The vote came after the Senate overwhelmingly approved the measure during a late-night session.
Sunsweet Growers names new VP of North America marketing
Sunsweet Growers Inc., a leading marketer of prunes, specialty dried fruit products and fruit juices, promoted Jeff McLemore to the role of vice president of North America marketing.
Giumarra announces executive changes
The Giumarra Cos. promoted Tom Richardson and Bruce Dowhan to its executive staff. Mr. Richardson will serve as vice president of global development, and Mr. Dowhan will serve as vice president and general manager of Giumarra Agricom and Giumarra Borquez.
SunFed expands organics, adds items, installs solar, expands in Dominican Republic
“We’ve got quite a few things going on,” said Matt Mandel, vice president of sales and marketing at SunFed in Nogales, AZ, in an interview with The Produce News.
“First and foremost, we have a very much expanded program on organics,” he said.
Also, “a nice item that we are going to be adding to our portfolio is elongated red peppers.”
In addition to SunFed’s fruit and vegetable programs out of Mexico, “we are expanding our production in the Dominican Republic as well,” Mr. Mandel said.
Giumarra expecting increased volumes of blueberries from Chile
Craig Uchizono, vice president, Southern Hemisphere for The Giumarra Cos., based in Los Angeles, said that the company offers a variety of produce from Chile, including avocados, blueberries, grapes, stone fruit, cherries, apples, pears, kiwifruit and citrus.
JMB’s bean program keys in on holidays, has more early volume
JMB Distributing Inc. in Nogales, AZ, specializes in beans. This year, “we still have the same bean program” as in the past, said Harry Spragia, the company’s president. “That is all we do. We specialize in them. We think we have either the top or one of the very top beans in North America on a consistent basis. Our label speaks for itself.”
The beans are being grown in Guasave in northern Sinaloa, Mexico, by a grower JMB has been working with for more than a decade. They are packed in one of two JMB house labels, either “Top Seven” or “Royal Gem.”
California citrus escapes frost damage so far
Season-to-date, the San Joaquin Valley citrus crop has felt minimal pressure from below-freezing temperatures as compared to last year, according to a press release issued by California Citrus Mutual, based in Exeter.
Overnight temperatures Jan. 2 dropped to a season low of 27 degrees in the coldest areas; however, the cold weather proved manageable and no damage to either the Navel or Mandarin crops was reported.