Gilroy, CA-based Christopher Ranch LLC, one of the nation's larger producers and distributors of garlic, has been growing, packing and selling organic garlic since the mid-1990s. Bill Christopher, managing partner of the company, said that it is simply a case of filling the needs of the firm’s customers.

Vice President of Marketing Patsy Ross elaborated that the company began its organic production because "we started getting inquiries from our customers."

The organic category continues to grow in demand for Maurice A. Auerbach Inc., Jeff Schwartz, vice president of the South Hackensack, NJ-based company, told The Produce News. "Increases are consistent, rather than dramatic," said Mr. Schwartz. “We have had to increase our sourcing in order to meet the growing demand.”

Ger-Nis International has new and exciting programs in the works for 2011, Nissa Pierson, owner and managing director of the Brooklyn, NY- headquartered company told The Produce News. "We are one of the only companies that brought the organic Edward mango, an early variety, in from Peru this year," said Ms. Pierson. “Because of the U.S. Department of Agriculture protocol that requires the fruit go through hot- water baths, we shipped them into Canada. We thought this would be a great year to increase our movements into Canada.

Bill Litvin, regional sales and national account manager for Giorgio Fresh Co., in Temple, PA, told The Produce News that the company offers organic whole and sliced white mushrooms, Baby Bella, whole and sliced Portabellas and Shiitake mushrooms in retail and bulk packs. "We recently added sliced white mushrooms to our organic line," said Mr. Litvin. “Our organic mushrooms are all produced on our farms in Pennsylvania. Giorgio Fresh has [one of the larger single-site mushroom- growing operations] in the country, and we are the second largest mushroom grower in the United States.”

Wholesale distributor Albert's Organics, headquartered in Santa Cruz, CA, has focused exclusively on organics since the day the company began in 1982. Simcha Weinstein, director of marketing, said that Albert’s carries a complete and full selection of well over 300 produce items. "Currently we are promoting organic blueberries from Chile and organic mangos from Peru," he said. “We’re also promoting winter citrus, but we often work on getting our customers excited about the non-seasonal items from southlands that offer a bit of a taste of summer during the cold winter season.”

"We are excited about this year's organic citrus season," said Tom Avinelis, chief executive officer of Homegrown Organic Farms in Porterville, CA, in an interview with The Produce News Jan. 17. “We have rolled out with an organic Navel program that is featuring high-quality fruit that is in abundant supply this year. Our volumes have gone up substantially” over the past couple of years. Homegrown’s organic citrus program is increasing in other areas. “We have a cara cara program that has really begun to expand,” Mr. Avinelis said.