California Spring Vegetables business updates

Boskovich Farms increases volumes

Oxnard, Calif.-based Boskovich Farms Inc. expects volume growth again this year, said Russ Widerburg, sales manager for Boskovich Farms Inc., Oxnard, Calif.

“We are always increasing, with a 4% to 7% growth in volume every year,” Widerburg said, with organic growing at a faster rate than conventional items.

The company, which grows green onions year-round in Mexico and also has central California acreage of multiple crops, has seen volume gains recently in cabbage, cilantro and spinach.

Organic vegetables continue to grow in volume, as Widerburg said Boskovich seeks to mirror the availability of conventional items with their organic counterparts.

D’Arrigo Bros. offers consolidation

With new transportation regulations in place, D’Arrigo Bros. Co. of California is offering its customers consolidation and partnering with non-competing companies to offer more commodities at its facility, said Greg Heinz, salesman for the Salinas-based company.

Five Crowns ready for sweet corn

The sweet corn season for Five Crowns Marketing should begin April 1, said Bill Colace, co-owner of Five Crowns Marketing, Brawley, Calif.

Five Crowns has shipped sweet corn out of the Imperial Valley and Coachella Valley since 1988.

The company offers an organic sweet corn deal and also has offers asparagus from the Bakersfield, and will add 200 acres in production from Bakersfield this year.

Nunes adds organic baby bok choy

The Nunes Co. is adding organic baby bok choy, said Doug Classen, sales manager for the Salinas, Calif.-based company.

“We are seeing good demand across our conventional and organic lines,” he said.

Ocean Mist increases organic acreage

Ocean Mist Farms will have a minor reduction in leaf lettuce acreage and an increase in Brussels sprouts acreage this season, said Art Barrientos, vice president of harvesting for Castroville, Calif.-based Ocean Mist Farms. Organic vegetable acreage will increase as well, he said.

A shortage of labor is requiring Ocean Mist to increase use of the H-2A guest worker program, Barrientos said.

Sunnyside Packing celebrates 70 years

Sunnyside Packing Co., Selma, Calif., is celebrating its 70th anniversary, said Todd Hirasuna, general manager.

The company is a family-owned and operated grower, packer and shipper of fruits and vegetables in the San Joaquin Valley of California.

Hirasuna said the company is reallocating some acreage to less labor-intensive crops in preparation for implementing the 40-hour work week in 2019 (the phase-out of agriculture’s overtime exemption).

Fast-maturing crops like green beans and summer squash will likely be pulled out of the company’s California growing districts by the 2019 season, he said.

Tanimura and Antle boosts organic

Salinas, Calif.-based Tanimura & Antle continues to expand, with four-fold growth in organics possible from the program’s start last year, said Jeff Jackson, senior vice president of sales and marketing for the company.

From a standing start a year ago, Tanimura & Antle’s organic program may expand fourfold this year, he said.

The company markets close to 45 million cartons of conventional and organic vegetables annually.