Lantao, which imports premium fruit from around the world into China, has opened its seventh fresh fruit import distribution facility in Qingdao, Shandong Province.

Jim Provost of I Love Produce LLC and John Wang, chief executive officer of Lantao, were on-hand to help kick off the celebration. Shandong is one of the top farm export provinces in China, and Provost and Wang are partners in exporting organic vegetables, ginger and garlic from Shandong to North America.

This year, Delano, CA-based Pandol Bros. Inc. will offer its premium table grape varieties in retail packaging that identifies the variety by name, according to John Pandol, a director of the corporation.

Other grape varieties from Pandol Bros. will continue to be identified by color, such as red seedless or green seedless, in “a generic bag,” Pandol told The Produce News.

In both cases, the grapes will be packed in laminate pouch or stand-up bags “which I think are the new standard,” he added.

From early season Flames to late season Autumn Kings, Jasmine Vineyards Inc. in Delano, CA, offers a broad assortment of fresh grape varieties, grown in the Delano district.

“Thus far, we just started with Flames. It’s the only variety I am currently doing,” said salesman Brian Crettol in an interview with The Produce News July 9. “We are going to start some Princess and some Summer Royals here probably toward the end of this week.”

Peach harvest in southwest Michigan is under way. “A few are in now,” said Barry Winkel, the partner and general manager of Benton Harbor, MI-based Greg Orchards & Produce Inc. The volume will grow in the last days of July.

Red Haven peach harvest will begin from this area in the first week of August, Winkel said. Southwest Michigan’s peach trees were hurt by bitterly cold weather last winter. Winkel expected about two-thirds to three-fourths of a full peach crop.

After months of discussions, the primary food-safety agencies for the United States and Mexico signed a statement of intent July 21 to form a partnership to promote the safety of fresh agricultural products.

Growers throughout California's Central Valley are reporting optimal growing conditions for pomegranates.

Ralph Melendez, field operations manager for Slaydeco Inc., a principal grower of early season varieties, expects the company's Granada’s to start shipping by the end of the last week of July. “A consistently warm summer has moved our traditional start date forward by about a week," he said. "We are seeing high color in the Granada’s, with a normal range of sizes. Our Foothills will follow by about a week.”