Stockton, CA-based Grower Direct LLC will once again see an increase in volume in its proprietary Monster Cot apricot program this year, according to Don Walters, a founding partner of the company.

Monster Cot is a trademark name for a family of proprietary licensed varieties with similar characteristics. Named for their large size, they also have good color and great flavor, according to Mr. Walters. This will be the company’s sixth season with the variety.

Blossom Hill Packing-Lucich Santos Farms in Patterson, CA, a four-generation family business that, according to the company web site, has specialized in apricots for the past 35 years, continues with the practices that have made it successful, while staying current with new developments in the market and industry.

Green Tree International Inc. in Visalia, CA, continues this year to broker California stone fruit “pretty much from all the major shippers here in the [San Joaquin] Valley,” said Cary Crum, vice president of the company, in an interview with The Produce News on April 9.

The peach crops at Warmerdam Packing in Hanford, CA, whose fruit is marketed by The Flavor Tree Fruit Co. LLC, received little damage from a hailstorm April 11 that industry sources estimate may have reduced the state’s 2012 stone fruit crop by around 18 percent.

“Tomatoes on the vine typically have the largest share of the greenhouse tomato category but aren’t always the best when it comes to flavor,” said Nancy Pickersgill, event planning and communication manager for Mastronardi Produce Sunset headquartered in Leamington, ON. “Sunset Delano is our solution to this taste issue, being a slightly smaller tomato with more flavor than traditional TOVs and with fewer seeds.

As Arnold Mack of McMelon, Inc. in Lake Wales, FL, is fond of saying, “You will never see anyone coming out of a supermarket with an umbrella in one hand and carrying a watermelon.”

Which is another way of saying weather drives the watermelon market. And weather so far this spring has been perfect for both bringing on watermelons early and setting up demand for a strong season.