Michael Muzyk, president of Bronx, NY-based Baldor Specialty Foods, told The Produce News that the company has added personnel to its purchasing department staff in recent months to allow it to better source wild mushrooms, such as Porcinis, Chanterelles and Morels from South Africa and other parts of the world.

Though Prime Time International, located in Coachella, CA, is typically identified as a grower-shipper of colored peppers, during the late spring and early summer time period, diversification is the firm’s calling card.

“We have a wide diversify of product during the spring, when vegetable supplies transition from Mexico to the desert,” said Mike Aiton, Prime Time’s marketing manager. “During the spring, we have corn, watermelon, green beans and eggplant as well as both greenhouse peppers and field-grown peppers.”

When Tom Glenos put his new, high-graphic, kid-friendly bins in supermarket produce departments last year, he was a little taken aback by the attention they received.

“Everybody loved them,” said Mr. Glenos, who grows and ships watermelons in Zolfo Springs and Trenton, FL, Cordele and Ashburn, GA, Leachville, AR, Vincenes, IN and Plains, TX.

Tony Bianco and Blaine Carian, two third-generation Coachella Valley grape growers and marketers, had a clear vision when they started their firm in 1993. They wanted to start a growing and shipping operation of their own to compete in the very short-lived desert grape deal every year.

Mr. Bianco, who serves as the company’s president and handles the marketing of the crop grown mostly by his partner, said the operation has proceeded as expected. “We both were third-generation grape growers so we knew what we were getting into and we have stayed on course.”

Franz De Klotz, Carrie Briones and Nick Bozick of the Richard Bagdasarian Inc. sales staff.

Several years ago, Steve Root, the president of Coachella, CA-based East West Unlimited LLC, greatly increased his plantings of green grapes. This year, that action is bearing fruit, literally.

“I believe I will double my production of green grapes this year,” he said. “I put in a bunch of new grapes of the Sugraone variety awhile back and this year they are producing.”