Packer Stories

04/11/2012

An April 11 hailstorm seems certain to put a dent in California stone fruit production.

“One of our field men said it’s the worst hail he’s ever seen,” said John Thiesen, division manager Giumarra Bros. Fruit Co. division in Reedley, Calif. “It’s literally stripping leaves off the tree.”

The storm cut a swath through Hanford, Traver and Kingsburg.

04/09/2012

Stonefruit volume from Giumarra Bros. Fruit Co. division in Reedley, Calif., is expected to be up 32% this year, and a salesman has been brought in to help accommodate it.

“We have added several new growers and will also have our own additional acreage in production,” John Thiesen, division manager for Giumarra Reedley, said in a news release.

01/19/2012

Kingsburg Orchards has added 45,000 square feet to its Cornerstone packing and shipping facility in advance of the California stone fruit season.

“We really just wanted to improve our customer service,” said Jillian Diepersloot, special projects coordinator for the Kingsburg, Calif.-based grower-shipper. “With the amount of growers we have, 13 and more coming, plus two facilities on the same driveway, when you get to July and have all that fruit coming in, space starts to get a little tight.”

08/19/2011

KINGSBURG, Calif. — By crop size, plums are the runt of the California stone fruit seasonal litter, taking a back seat to the larger nectarines and peaches that dominate the summer harvest.

Come fall, however, plums — and their close relatives, pluots — strut their stuff.

08/19/2011

FRESNO, Calif. — A retail buyer of a few generations back now paying a visit to his old office would likely assume there were more than a few misprints on the California fall fruit order form.