Since 1893, the Business Newspaper of the Produce Industrytthheeppaacckkeerr..ccoomm April 18, 2011CXVIII, No. 16

Growers expect a big cropof high-quality peaches. Crops & Markets B1

A new sorter cuts damageto berries. Handling & Distributing B4

Grower-shippers shoot forthe 11 million-cartonmark again. California Cherries B6

On-the-go shoppers helpboost sales. Melons Marketing B9

What’s inside

� THE PACKER has 1,084 Facebook followers.

tinyurl.com/packerfacebook

� Join THE PACKER’s 1,568 followers on Twitter.

http://twitter.com/thepacker

� Care to comment on stories inTHE PACKER? Let us hear it atThe Packer Online.

tthheeppaacckkeerr..ccoomm

Tell it to THE PACKER

DepartmentsService Index A2Tradewatch . A2Second Front A3Opinion . . . . A8

Retail . . . . . . A9Commodities B2Records . . . . B5Classifieds . . B5

By Don SchrackStaff Writer

Southern California’s OceansidePole Tomato Sales Inc., one of the na-tion’s largest suppliers to retail of vine-ripe tomatoes, abruptly halted opera-tions April 12, as did grower HarrySingh & Sons because of “a perfectstorm of issues” related to costs.

“I’ll be closing down the companyin the next few weeks,” said BillWilber, Oceanside Pole Tomato presi-dent, on April 13.

Krishna Singh, general manager ofthe growing company and grand-daughter of its founder, sent a messageto that firm’s employees the same day,explaining that the company wouldnot be operating for the 2011 season.

“I regret to inform you that effec-tive immediately Harry Singh & SonsFarming Partnership will not be in op-eration for the 2011 season. … Wewill work diligently and explore alloptions in our efforts to reorganizeand resume farming operations for2012,” she said in the e-mail message.

Barbara Metz, spokeswoman forHarry Singh & Sons, said April 14 thatthe company had not gone bankrupt.She said “a perfect storm of issues,”including costs of labor and water,competition from Mexico, Califor-nia’s regulatory climate and urban en-croachment had caused the shutdown.

Leaves a vine-ripe gap

The closures of Oceanside Pole andSingh’s growing operation could put adent in the upcoming season’s vine-ripe category. Oceanside Pole, the mar-

keting arm of Harry Singh & Sons,Oceanside, Calif., has consistentlypacked and marketed annually morethan 4.5 million cartons of vine-riperound and roma tomatoes and often ex-ceeded 5 million cartons, Wilber said.

Harry Singh & Sons was one of ninemembers of the Fresno-based coopera-tive, California Tomato Farmers. Mem-bers of the cooperative have about 90%of the fresh tomatoes grown in theU.S., said president Ed Beckman.

“The cooperative is already givingconsideration and holding discussionson how it can fill the gap left by theclosure of Oceanside Pole,” he said.

The closing will leave jobless morethan 85 Oceanside Pole and HarrySingh & Sons year round employees— including Wilber, director of salesR.J. Deakins and salesman Dino Ia-covimo — and will eliminate another900 seasonal field and packinghousepositions, Wilber said.

Oceanside Pole’s shut down maybe temporary.

In her e-mailed statement, KrishnaSingh said:

“For over 70 years, we have beenhonored to provide the marketplacewith outstanding produce and havebeen mostly known for our OceansidePole and Cal-Tom labels.”

Wilber said he has hopes that theSingh operation will be back in busi-ness next year.

“They just do a wonderful job witha great product,” he said.

The sentiment was echoed byBeckman, who said a problem facingall California growers is the state’s fi-nancial hurdles.

“Harry Singh & Sons is a company

that very much focuses on sustainableproduction,” he said. “One of the keyareas, though, if farming is going tocontinue in California, is that therewill be an economic component tosustainability.”

It is a challenge in California be-cause of the regulatory environmentand high costs, Beckman said.

American dream

The history of Harry Singh & Sonspaints a portrait of the Americandream. While a teenager, Harry SinghSr. came to the U.S. from India at theend of World War I to attend school.He was forced to drop out of schoolwhen his father died suddenly, accord-ing to company records.

By the early 1940s, the San DiegoCounty growing operation Singh hadfounded grew to more than 1,000acres. When he died in 1982, his son,

Harry Singh Jr., assumed the helm.In 1990, the company opened a

$2.5 million, 328-bed housing facilityfor field employees.

“It fulfilled a dream of my fatherand helped us attract the best work-ers,” Singh Jr. said.

Local media had quoted Metz inMarch saying that the company wasrestructuring “for a variety of eco-nomic reasons.” She told THE PACKERthat one of the reasons was the Singhfamily’s lease of about 350 acres ofland from the U.S. Marine Corps atCamp Pendleton.

Negotiations in March includedSingh seeking lower lease paymentsand considering giving up a portion ofthe leased property, according to theEscondido, Calif.-based North CountyTimes.

Staff writer Coral Beach contributedto this article.

Oceanside PoleTomato shuts down

Tom Burfield

Bill Wilber, president and director of marketing for Oceanside Produce Inc., market-ing arm of Harry Singh & Sons, inspects vine-ripe tomatoes in 2006. OceansideProduce became Oceanside Pole Tomato Sales Inc. in 2010.

Pamela Riemenschneider

By Andy NelsonMarkets Editor

Supplies of one Mother’s Day stapleshould be ample, but not of another.

Asparagus volumes will likely remainvery tight, even after the traditional Easterpeak, said James Paul, salesman for GregPaul Produce, Stockton, Calif., and AltarProduce LLC, Calexico, Calif.

In the leadup to Mother’s Day on May 8,California asparagus prices will likely re-main in the $48-55 per-box range, notmuch lower than their pre-Easter highs,Paul said.

“It feels like we’re just getting shorterand shorter as we speak,” Paul said April14. “Mexico is done, and the Californiaacreage is just too darn small to support(demand). I don’t see it softening that muchfor Mother’s Day.”

On April 13, the U.S. Department of Agri-culture reported prices of $54.75-56.75 for28-pound pyramid cartons and crates ofbunched large green asparagus from Califor-nia, up from $40.75 last year at the same time.

Washington could have some product inthe pipeline by early May, but a cycle ofwarm weather, followed by freezes, could

limit early production there, Paul said.Peruvian volumes were picking up in

mid-April, but very little product was mak-ing it to the U.S., Paul said. Particularlywith the focus on locally grown product,people want California asparagus if it’savailable, he said.

Quality has been near perfect, Paul said,with cool weather, no hail or insect prob-lems and plenty of moisture in the ground.Because of the moderate temperatures, as-paragus is growing slowly and thus comingout of the ground on the large side.

About 40% of product shipping in mid-

April was large, 30% standard and the bal-ance jumbo and other sizes, Paul said.

“There’s very little smaller than stan-dard,” he said.

Strawberries

While asparagus will likely be tight, theCalifornia strawberry crop should be fullyrecovered from heavy rains in early springand providing ample promotional opportu-nities for Mother’s Day, said Cindy Jewell,marketing director for Watsonville, Calif.-based California Giant Inc.

“The sun’s out, volumes are picking up,the fields are pretty much cleaned up,” shesaid. “Things are looking good. Shippersare trying to catch up for lost time.”

Fruit was large in mid-April with excel-lent quality, conditions that should continueinto Mother’s Day, Jewell said. In mid-April the company was already fielding re-quests for long-stemmed strawberries, aMother’s Day favorite.

On April 13, the USDA reported pricesof $10-12 for flats of eight 1-pound con-tainers of medium and large strawberriesfrom California, up from $7-8 last year atthe same time.

Asparagus supplies likely tight for Mother’s Day

The regulation restores security for sellers that acourt decision had revoked.By Tom KarstNational Editor

Rebuking court decisions thateroded Perishable AgriculturalCommodities Act trust protec-tion for sellers of produce, aU.S. Department of Agricultureregulation protects marketers’trust even if they negotiate post-default payment agreements.

The new rule went into effectApril 13, and amended PACAregulations to allow a produceseller to enter into a scheduledagreement for payment of thepast-due amount without losingtrust eligibility.

“They made the changes thatshould havebeen made,”said StephenMcCarron,partner inMcCarron &Diess, aWashington,D.C.-basedlaw firm.“Now anypost-defaultagreementsdo not waive or forfeit trust eli-gibility.”

“That is what the industryneeded, and that was what thefinal rule said.”

However, McCarron saidsellers still must sell on pay-ment terms that are 30 days orless from delivery to qualify fortrust eligibility.

Trust rights retained

The USDA rule clarifies thatproduce sellers retain their trustrights until they are paid in full.McCarron said court decisionsas far back as the late 1980s hadruled that any written or oralpost-default agreement with acreditor voided the seller’sPACA trust protection.

Court cases that weakenedtrust protection had cited PACAlanguage that stipulate 30 daysafter acceptance as the maxi-mum time allowed for paymentthat a seller can agree to and stillqualify for trust coverage.

McCarron said the result ofthose court cases was that it be-came treacherous for producesellers to talk to their customersabout a past-due bill for fear oflosing their trust protection.

However, the USDA said inthe final rule that the agency’sinterpretation was that languageaddresses pre-transaction agree-ments only, and not post-defaultdiscussions about payment.

What industry wanted

Scott Danner, chief operatingofficer of Liberty Fruit, KansasCity, Kan., said the final rulewas what the industry had beenwanting.

Before, if a customer defaultedon payment and asked a produceseller to extend terms for threemonths, for example, the produceseller could lose trust protection.

“If we said yes, we then —according to the courts — wegave away our PACA rights,”he said.

Danner said the authors ofthe PACA law did not intend fortrust rights to be at risk as thecourts had recently interpreted.

“The (authors of PACA)meant to try to preserve busi-ness and relationships, and Ithink that this rule will help,”Danner said.

The United Fresh ProduceAssociation was pleased withthe final rule, said Robert Guen-ther, senior vice president ofpublic policy for Washington,D.C.-based United Fresh.

“It looks like they have donea good job of listening to whatthe industry was saying and re-ally writing a rule that will workfor all of us,” he said.

In the end, McCarron said theUSDA dealt with the issue in aspan of two years.

“It was done fairly efficient-ly, given the way these thingswork,” he said.

USDA ruleextendsPACAprotection

McCarron

� Mexico’s production has finished, and other production areas haven’t filled the supply gap.

Pamela Riemenschneider

LEFT: Dan Martin (left), director ofproduce for eastern Canada forSysco Canada, discusses his work-shop presentation with Leo Arse-nault, president of Uni-Globe SAInc., Ste-Julie, Quebec, on April 14at the Canadian Produce Marketing Association’s annual convention in Montreal.

Greg Johnson

ABOVE: Ghislain Perron (from left), produce director for Metro Richelieu; RonLemaire, Canadian Produce Marketing Association president; Alain Routhier,convention chair and president of Courchesne Larose Ltd.; and Danny Demp-ster, retiring CPMA president, officially open the trade show floor April 14.

� Look for complete CPMA coverageat thepacker.com and in the April 25print edition of THE PACKER.

� The startmay havebeen slow,but expect a strong finish.

Mexican Grapestabloid insert

United FreshConvention Preview C1

Page B10 April 18, 2011THE PACKER/Melons Marketing

really know,” he said.Retail activity will pick up

as the spring progresses, saidDan Van Groningen, vice pres-ident of Van Groningen & SonsInc., Manteca.

“Many watermelons are go-ing to do fine during the off-sea-son., but when we get intoMay, many chains want to getinto your conventional seed-less watermelon,” he said. “Butthe mini watermelon is becom-ing very popular, especially inJapan. We’ve gotten a lot moreinterest in mini’s, but the qual-ity has to hold up on that ride.”

Cantaloupe and honeydew

The cantaloupe and honey-dew markets have been brisk,marketing agents said.

“The past few weeks, wesaw the demand for honeydewspick up, particularly for smallersizes,” said Don Johnston, mel-on program director for Fron-tera Produce, Edinburg, Texas.

“There’s more of the largersizes available, and with every-thing in short supply, that’swhere the demand is. And it hasbeen similar on the cantaloupes,as well. The demand has pickedup over the last several weeks,and primarily on 12s and 15s —the smaller sizes.”

As of April 11, half cartonsof size 9 cantaloupes from Cen-tral America were priced at$9.95-10.95, size 12s, $10.95-11.95, and size 15s, $10.95-11.95, according to the USDA.

Two-thirds cartons of sizes5 and 6 honeydews from Cen-tral America were priced at$12-13.50, and 8s, $11-12.

Brent Harrison, president ofAl Harrison Produce Co., No-gales, Ariz., said the honeydewmarket was doing well, but wa-termelons presented a fewchallenges.

“It’s hard to get watermelonin winter for some varieties,”he said. “We’re trying to getsome varieties that do that.”

Chris Ciruli, partner in RioRico, Ariz.-based Ciruli Bros.,said his company would startits melon deal in late April,with honeydews coming out ofMexico.

“Typically we should seegood production as we go intothe first part of May,” he said.

“And the crops look to be ingood shape coming out, afterthe cold weather we had inMexico early on.”

Monique McLaws, market-ing manager for DulcineaFarms LLC, Ladera Ranch,Calif., said the honeydew mar-ket had been “relatively flatover the past couple of yearsbut is still a large and signifi-cant segment in the market.”

Dulcinea has a Honey Blisstrademarked honeydew thatcan help “bring some excite-ment to the category,” McLawssaid.

The cantaloupe market hasbeen consistently strong, saidMichael Warren, president ofPompano Beach, Fla.-basedCentral American Produce.

“We’re basically in the mid-dle of our season now,” he saidin late March.

SalesFrom B9

convenience,” said AngelaO’Neal Chappell, saleswomanwith Fairfax, S.C.-based water-melon grower-shipper CoosawFarms.

“Retailers are picking up onit, and I think it’s certainly uti-lized.”

Pompano Beach, Fla.-basedCentral American Produce hasnoticed the upward trend infresh-cut cantaloupes and hon-eydews, said Michael Warren,president.

“People want to buy smallerportions. They see it and have ahigher comfort level buyingfruit like that,” he said. “A lotof young consumers out theretrying to make a living go infor the convenience, so fresh-cut (has) just as important arole, especially in melons, asthe whole-melon sales.”

The category grows a biteach year, said Greg Leger, pres-ident and partner with Leger &Son Inc., a Cordele, Ga.-basedwatermelon grower-shipper.

“I think people in metropol-itan areas want to put fruit infront of their kids, but theydon’t want to have to deal withthe rind or cutting up the wa-termelon, and convenience

sells,” he said.That convenience carries a

price premium, but it isn’t pro-hibitive, Leger said.

“In some areas you have peo-ple (who) are looking for value,and watermelon is one of thebest values out there,” he said.

How much the fresh-cut cat-egory grows depends on vari-ous factors, including thecaprices of nature, said BrentHarrison, president of Al Harri-son Produce Co., a Nogales,Ariz.-based grower-shipper.

“Fresh-cut is a growing partof our industry. We know that,”he said. “They have strict spec-ifications and we understandthat. There are problemsthroughout the year because ofweather-related issues that af-fect quality, but all in all I seethat business growing.”

Manteca, Calif.-based water-melon grower-shipper GeorgePerry & Sons Inc. sells wholemelons to processors, said ArtPerry, chief executive officer.

“It’s moving more and moreeach year,” he said.

New varieties are playing animportant role in the fresh-cutarea, Harrison said.

“If you can get a melon to acutter’s door, that melon’s go-ing to be great at retail also inshelf life and so forth,” he said.

ConvenienceFrom B9

Business updatesAl Harrison Produce Co.adds sizing equipment

Nogales, Ariz.-based Al Har-rison Produce Co. has broughtin new sizing machines for cus-tom packs for all of its growers,said Brent Harrison, president.

The company also has quali-fied to HarvestMark traceabilitycertification stickers, he said.

In addition, the company hasinstalled an operating systemthat enables all of its growers tomonitor sales and inventoriesand gather other data regardingtheir product, Harrison said.

Bagley Produce finishesNicaraguan season

Edinburg, Texas-based BagleyProduce Inc. finished up its firstcrop out of Nicaragua April 8,said Jeff Fawcett, sales manager.

“We ventured to Central Amer-ica with a deal in Nicaragua. It’s alearning curve, but it’s showingpromise,” Fawcett said.

“Our first crop is not a hugecrop — 25 hectares, or over 50acres — but we expect it to im-prove. That’s the learning curve.”

Melons were coming intoU.S. markets in the Southeast,he said, adding that when thedeal gets going and all the kinksare worked out, it likely will runfrom December through March.

This year, the deal produceddouble digits of 40,000-poundcontainers, Fawcett said.

“We’re better than what weexpected but not as good as what

we’re used to doing,” he said.The company also is upgrad-

ing its website, www.bagleypro-duce.com, Fawcett said.

Central American Produceexpands port locations

Pompano Beach, Fla.-basedCentral American Produce isfighting fuel costs by shippingmelons into more ports this

year, accord-ing toM i c h a e lW a r r e n ,president.

“We havem e l o n sa v a i l a b l ethroughoutthe U.S. andin variousports, in theNor theas t ,

the South, Texas or the WestCoast,” he said.

“We have melons coming intoall four areas. We’re taking ad-vantage of the higher prices of gaswith new areas of distribution.”

Before the current season,the company shipped its prod-uct into the U.S. through Miamiand Long Beach, Calif., he said.

“Now, we’re also going intoHouston and Wilmington(Del.),” he said.

Dulcinea Farms plansretail promotions

Ladera Ranch, Calif.-basedDulcinea Farms LLC has a mul-ti-pronged retail marketing strat-

egy this year, said MoniqueMcLaws, marketing manager.

“In 2011, our marketing ef-forts will continue to be usingin-store displays, point-of-salematerial, produce manager con-tests and demos,” she said.

Frontera Produceexpands melon lineup

Edinburg, Texas-based Fron-tera Produce has taken on a mel-on program in Fort Mitchell, Ky.,that Cincinnati-based ChiquitaBrands International Inc. exitedafter last year, said Don John-ston, Frontera’s Fort Mitchell-based melon program director.

The change brought Johnstonand other melon sales person-nel, Matt Tanner, Tony Fey andDavid Owens, from Chiquita toFrontera. Kristie Johnston, DonJohnston’s daughter, also joinedthe staff as sales coordinator.

“For us, our business thisyear has been very similar towhat it was last year,” he said.

The Kentucky staff bringscantaloupes and honeydews toFrontera, which already offeredwatermelons, Johnston said.

Watermelon boardredesigns Web presence

The Orlando, Fla.-based Na-tional Watermelon PromotionBoard retooled its website,www.watermelon.org, saidMark Arney, executive director.

By Jim Offner, special to ThePacker

Warren

OrganicCantaloupe, Honeydews

& Mixed MelonsShipping from

Imperial & San Joaquin Valleys

Sales Gurdeep Billan

Aaron Winslow • Chris Carbajalddfarms@doubledfarms.com

559-884-2000

PRODUCT. INNOVATION. QUALITY. MARKETING. CONSUMER SATISFACTION.

800.495.1561 • dulcinea.com

Copy

righ

t © 2

011

Dul

cine

a Fa

rms,

LLC

.™Al

l Rig

hts

Rese

rved

.

Keeping it fresh and sweet…year-round!Dulcinea Farms™ is passionate about providing the best tasting produce in any

season. Our watermelons are simply irresistible and bursting with flavor. Each

product we bring to market has been carefully selected to meet the standards we

have set for ourselves: consumer tested, retail accepted and always with unique

characteristics. Executing on our quality promise takes dedication – from planning

and harvesting to delivering the best tasting watermelons to customers. Partnering

with growers and suppliers who share the same passion and commitment has been a

key to our success. Enjoy the Dulcinea® difference year-round!

We supply a full line of hard shell winter squash during the winter months,

plus watermelons year round (seeded, seedless and yellow flesh) as well

as a wide variety of mini melons & honeydews in season. For ample

supplies for seasonal and holiday promotions just give us a call today!

BRENT HARRISON, SHELLEY HARRISON-VALDIVIA, T.J. BAUER, TOMAS GONZALEZ, DANNY RIVERA

& SCOTT KOSNIK

(520) 281-1222 • FAX: (520) 281-1104WWW. ALHARRISON.COM • NOGALES, AZ 85628

WHEN YOU’RE LOOKING FOR QUALITY,

JUST ASK FOR THE “SI SEÑOR” AND “HARRISON FRESH” LABELS.