William Manis Produce Marketing, a year-round marketer of watermelons, expects to begin marketing its domestic fruit in May, slightly later than typical timetables. “We are still shipping offshore melons as the Florida melons will be delayed this year,” President Officer Rick Sullivan told The Produce News on April 11.

Imported melons are sourced from Guatemala, Honduras and Panama. “Our farms for the domestic melons we grow are in south Florida, north Florida and Missouri,” Mr. Sullivan stated.

Rollercoaster spurts of unseasonal weather will delay the start of the watermelon season for McMelon Inc., headquartered in Lake Wales, FL. “It’s not off to that good of a start in Florida because of cold weather,” President and Chief Executive Officer Arnold Mack told The Produce News on April 12.

McMelon is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mack Farms Inc., also located in Lake Wales. The company has an extensive history growing and marketing potatoes.

Gibson Produce & Watermelon Sales LLC, headquartered in Vero Beach, FL, celebrated the next step in its corporate growth on Jan. 1 with the opening of a new office in Lake Wales, FL. President Bob Gibson said the new office was opened in response to increased production. “My acreage increased [40 percent] this year,” he told The Produce News April 8. Produce veterans Michael Starnes and Jason Turner spearhead sales at the Lake Wales office, and Mr. Gibson said he is pleased to have them aboard.

Bill Litvin, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Giorgio Fresh Co. in Temple, PA, said that with consumers doing their research prior to purchasing products at the grocery store, the current industry movements and trends have produced a positive impact on the specialty produce category. Much of the increase in demand is related to the high nutritional value of mushrooms.

Steve Thomas, president of Snow & Sons Produce Co. in Outlook, WA, said the 2013 asparagus harvest was expected to ramp up in early April. “We’ve got some warm weather now,” he told The Produce News on April 1. “We could start around April 8.”

The company has 400 acres in production this season, down from last year’s acreage. Mr. Thomas said this reflects a statewide trend in 2013. “But some new fields are being planted in Washington,” he noted.

“We’ve had some nice weather. The crop will look good if there aren’t any freezes,” he added.

Effective April 1, The Grape Guys in Visalia, CA, partnered with Eagle Eye Produce Inc. in Idaho Falls, ID, in the formation of a new company called Eagle Eye Grape Guys LLC.

The new company will continue to use the “Grape Guys” name along with “Eagle Eye,” at least for the time being, according to Shaun Ricks, president and a founding partner of the former company, and now vice president of sales and marketing for the new company, which is now listed in the Blue Book as Eagle Eye Grape Guys LLC, a subsidiary of Eagle Eye Produce Inc.