Garlic and Herb business updates
Christopher Ranch unveils garlic box
Gilroy, Calif.-based Christopher Ranch will be shipping its 2- and 3-pound bags of fresh garlic in a new full-color box with artwork depicting a California garlic field, said Bill Christopher, president.
The open-top box will be shipped to Costco and any customers who request the display unit, he said.
The company ships more than 85 million pounds of garlic annually, according to a news release.
The Garlic Co. improves lines
The Garlic Co., Shafter, Calif., has made improvements to help control rising costs, said Joe Lane, one of the company’s owners.
All lines have been made more efficient in their use of energy and manpower, he said.
“Garlic is a pretty labor-intensive crop— from field to whatever package it comes in,” he said, and the cost of labor affects the price consumers pay.
There currently is adequate labor to harvest the garlic crop, but labor could get tighter when additional crops start to come on this summer, he said.
Garlic Festival ‘bigger, better’
This year’s Gilroy Garlic Festival, set for July 28-30, will be “bigger, better and bolder than ever before,” according to a news release.
The celebration will feature garlicky food, live entertainment, cooking competitions and free garlic ice cream.
This year, the Gilroy, Calif., festival will welcome Emmy award-winning celebrity chef, author and Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis. Shaun O’Neale, winner of “MasterChef” season seven on Fox, will appear, as well.
The Gilroy Garlic Festival also will host the second annual Gilroy Garli-Que BBQ Challenge.
The heart of the festival is its famous Gourmet Alley, a gigantic outdoor kitchen where “Pyro Chefs” put on a spectacular flame-up show preparing garlic-laced calamari and scampi in huge iron skillets, according to the release.
Infinite Herbs gets new facility
Miami-based Infinite Herbs & Specialties LLC will move to a new 20,000-square-foot Midwest packing and distribution facility in Chicago, said Camilo Penalosa, managing director.
The company, which has outgrown its current facility, hopes to make the move by August.
The firm also plans to have a booth at The Packer’s Midwest Produce Show in mid-August “to reinstate our presence in the Midwest as a local packer,” he said.
Infinite Herbs & Specialties grows about 20 herbs and keeps expanding its organic and conventional specialty line that includes radicchio, ginger, endive, aloe vera and several hot peppers to serve the ethnic market and upscale retail stores, Penalosa said.
The company also has locations in Miami and Boston.
North Shore expands greenhouse
North Shore Living Herbs, Thermal, Calif., is undergoing a major expansion of its greenhouse facility, said Chris Wada, marketing manager.
The $6 million project should be finished by early August and will double the company’s fully automated greenhouse capacity, he said. The firm will have approximately 10 acres of greenhouses in Thermal when the project is completed.
The additional space also will come in handy as the company works on new products that can be shipped outside the local market, all the way to the East Coast, Wada said.
Vida Fresh grows in shade houses
Vida Fresh, Morro Bay, Calif., is growing more of its herbs in shade houses or net houses in Baja California, where the company owns its own facilities, said Andrew Walsh, owner and CEO.
Shade houses create a more vigorous plant, and net houses help mitigate pest pressure, he said.
The company aims to pack and ship packages that provide longer shelf life at retail, Walsh added.
