Tom Sheppard, president of Eastern Fresh Growers Inc., in Cedarville, NJ, told The Produce News that the company is at a higher level of food safety this year.

“We sell a lot of our leaf items to bagging companies, and they have very heavy food-safety requirements,” said Sheppard. “We have GAP’s [Good Agricultural Practices] Harmonized Food Safety Standard and PrimusGFS [Global Food Safety] certification, so we are well ahead of what companies today demand, and we intend on staying ahead in the future.”

The consensus among cherry growers in the Pacific Northwest is that the 2013 crop will fall within the 16-18 million box range. Growers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Utah met May 15 to discuss prospects for the coming season, agreeing that the crop size would not be as large as initially expected. The effects will be most directly felt in the marketplace during the early season.

As they move into June and July, Oxnard, CA-based Freska Produce International sales people should have their peak volume of Mexican mangos for the year, indicating that it will be a great time for promotions.

“Over the next few weeks, the harvest is moving north into Nayarit and Sinaloa” in Mexico, said Gary Clevenger, managing member and co-founder of this mango-centric importer, in mid-May.

So far it has been a fairly good mango season with good volume and good f.o.b. prices, said Larry Nienkerk, president of Splendid Products LLC in Burlingame, CA. Like others in the mango business, Nienkerk said the industry is moving more fruit at higher prices, which led to a new dynamic with regard to price points at retail.

“You can’t hit those same price points [at retail] anymore,” he said. “The days of three or four mangos for a $1 are gone.”

Research is the fuel that drives the watermelon industry, and funding that research is a key component of the National Watermelon Association’s mission. The organization recently announced funding for a half-dozen significant new projects.

Each year, the NWA reviews proposals from educational institutions and research organizations around the country and funds a handful of the most promising. Typically, projects most pertinent to resolving problems from the previous season move to the top of the list.

As harvesting of new potatoes in California’s Kern County moves into peak production, the marketing outlook is strong — at least for red, whites and yellows.

Several growers and shippers began digging during the week of May 6, with virtually everyone joining the party by the following week. By the week of May 20, it was predicted that most sheds would be ramping up to full production. Typically, shipments of fresh potatoes from the southern region of the San Joaquin Valley go into early July.