No one will argue that the current state of the economy is making things easy for fresh produce suppliers. But Rocky Ray, vice president of sales of Ray & Mascari Inc. in Indianapolis, said hard work and forward thinking turn problems into opportunities.

When Erick and Jessica Smith started This Old Farm in 2000, they wanted to make clean, locally grown food available to customers. Today, This Old Farm also represents more than 20 other farms. “The Farm Alliance is really the key to our operation,” President Jessica Smith said May 22. “The concept of the alliance came in to satisfy the wholesale market.”

The Original Farmers Market, located at the Indianapolis City Market, boasts more than 50 Indiana producers who sell their wares on Wednesdays from May through October.

L&M Cos. anticipate a successful stone fruit marketing season, with ample supplies of quality fruit. “Our expectation at this time is that we have a good crop of fruit on the trees, and — weather permitting — we expect quality and size to be good,” Sales Manager John Long said June 1.

The company markets stone fruit from the Pacific Northwest from its offices in Union Gap, WA. Mr. Long said good volumes of peaches, nectarines, Italian type prunes, President plums, Empress plums and a few Friar plums will move into the pipeline in 2012.

Stemilt Growers Inc., located in Wenatchee, WA, anticipates moving 1 million boxes of premium stone fruit to its retail partners this season. “We have a very good crop coming,” Director of Marketing Roger Pepperl told The Produce News on May 24. The company markets peaches, nectarines and apricots grown in Washington.

Delano, CA-based Fruit Royale Inc., which ships grapes out of Mexico during the spring Sonora grape season and then transitions to California’s San Joaquin Valley for summer and fall, expects it first grapes of the 2012 season from the San Joaquin Valley to start around July 9 with the Flame seedless variety, according to Louie Galvan, a partner in the company.