Every year, Castle Rock Vineyards in Delano, CA, increases production of its proprietary late-season red seedless grape variety, the Castle Rock Red. “Each year we have a little more volume with that, and this year we should have tremendous opportunity for distribution,” said Jim Llano, sales manager.

“We’ll see that in early September” this year, he said. Typically, the variety starts in late August, but as with most other grape varieties in the San Joaquin Valley this year, the Castle Rock Red is running later than normal.

FRESNO, CA — “We gear up heavy for the fall fruit deal,” said Atomic Torosian, a managing partner at Crown Jewels Produce Co., here. The company offers a wide assortment of California-grown fruit throughout the season, with a particularly diverse line-up of commodities from late summer through fall.

Grapes are a major part of the program, Mr. Torosian said Aug. 5. “We are still harvesting Flames at the moment, but we will [soon] transition into Crimson grapes” as well as various other red seedless varieties such as Sweet Scarlet, Scarlet Royal and Vintage Red.

It has been a year of relatively tight supplies for Hass avocados in the U.S. market, with Chile having a light 2010-11 crop and California’s 2011 crop being down by nearly half of what it was in 2010. Mexico also had a lighter overall crop during the season just finished than the prior year, but because of strong demand and

MONTEREY, CA — A panel of industry experts convened during the Produce Marketing Association’s 30th annual Foodservice Conference & Exposition, here, to explore the role of flavor in boosting produce consumption.

When the Michelin Guide first started assigning stars to restaurants in 1926, establishments could earn one to three stars based on their service and quality of food, said panelist Jelger de Vriend of Innovative Fresh. A three-star establishment was truly exceptional, he said, meaning that people would make a special trip to experience a flavor sensation.

Garlic prices in the U.S. market have been unusually high over the last 18 months or so, due largely to diminished production from China for the past two seasons. That has been a benefit to garlic growers and shippers in California who just a few years prior saw their returns take a beating season after season from cheap Chinese garlic flooding the market.

The 2011 garlic harvest was currently underway in both California and China as of late July. California