David Grimes, owner of David E. Grimes Co. in Hollister, CA, has been involved in virtually all aspects of the garlic industry over the course of his career of more than 35 years, according to the company web site.

I Love Produce in Kelton, PA, “is going to be looking to export more California garlic this year,” said Jim Provost, managing partner, in an interview with The Produce News July 20.

“We do an international food show in Hong Kong every year called [Asia] Fruit Logistica, and normally that is for setting up our fruit deal with China, so we are exhibiting our USA produce for the Chinese market,” he said.

“There is growing demand for organic commodities overall,” and that includes organic garlic, according to Gurdeep Billan, director of sales for Double D Farms in Coalinga, CA. “We are getting more and more demand” for organic garlic, and in response to that growing demand, “we have increased our acreage.”

Double D Farms grows its garlic “here in Central California, in the Coalinga-Huron area,” Mr. Billan said. “We primarily grow organic garlic” and “have definitely grown our overall acreage this year over last year, I would say, substantially.”

Whether garlic supplies in the U.S. market are tight, as they have been over much of the past year, or abundant, as they are expected to be for much of the coming year, California garlic benefits from price differential in the market, vis-à-vis garlic from other producing areas in the market at the same time, according to Bill Christopher, president of Christopher Ranch LLC in Gilroy, CA.

Garlic prices over the past 18 months or so, not only in the United States but globally, have been “at a very high level” according to Paul Auerbach, president of Maurice A. Auerbach Inc. in South Hackensack, NJ.

California growers see a fairly normal crop for the season just underway. But China has a larger crop than it has had in two years, with an increased volume coming into the U.S. market. “We foresee it is going to put a little downward pressure on an elevated market,” Mr. Auerbach said July 25.

Spice World, which is headquartered in Orlando, FL, and has garlic growing, packing and shipping operations in Coalinga, CA, markets whole fresh garlic, peeled garlic and a wide assortment of processed garlic products in addition to (as its name suggests) a line of spices and spice blends.

The company handles not only California garlic but also garlic imported from various producing countries outside of the United States.

However, Spice World has a strong California focus in its garlic program, as is clearly evident in the following statement on the company web site.