Stevco Inc., which is headquartered in Los Angeles and has branch offices in Bakersfield and Coachella, CA, as well as a seasonal office in Nogales, AZ, expects volume in its Mexican grape program this year to be up a little bit, according to Jared Lane, vice president of sales and marketing.

“Last year we did about 1.6 million [boxes]. This year we will do about 1.8 million boxes,” he said.

The Flavor Tree Fruit Co. LLC in Hanford, CA, has brought in some new cherry growers that will increase the company’s already substantial cherry volume significantly this season.

“We are going to add, just in this district, probably another 100,000 boxes of cherries,” said Maurice Cameron, managing partner.

Crop production projections for any produce commodity always come with the caveat, "depending on the weather." With the vulnerability of cherries to rains during or close to harvest, or to hail and wind damage, that universal caveat is especially applicable to cherries, as nearly every person in the in industry with whom The Produce News has discussed the upcoming California cherry crop has been quick to point out.

The Canadian Produce Marketing Association held its annual convention and trade show at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto April 17-19, and this year’s event was one for the record books, according to incoming CPMA Chair of the Board Walt Breeden.

The convention had 522 booths, the most in CPMA history. CPMA President Ron Lemaire said the success of this convention built on the momentum created two years ago in Montreal.

Bill Litvin, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Giorgio Fresh Co. in Temple, PA, said that the company is preparing to participate in the Mushroom Council’s new summer “Swap It or Top It” recipe contest.

“We are challenging consumers to transform their typical summer grilling recipes using mushrooms by reinventing the turkey burger with the use of mushroom ‘swapability,’ such as topping a traditional beef burger with a grilled portabella, or combining all five food groups to create a tasty MyPlate burger,” said Mr. Litvin.

Above-average rainfall and unseasonably cold weather as late as Easter weekend combined to delay the start of the Vidalia sweet onion season, but growers have uncovered another issue with their 2013 crop: Seed stems, also referred to as "bolters," "flower stalks," or "seeders," are showing up throughout the Vidalia onion production district in alarming numbers.

Growers noted high percentages of seed stems in mid-April across the production area, according to the Vidalia Onion Committee.