Bland Farms has kicked off its "Empire Sweets" program out of Cato, New York. Quality is good on the mildly sweet mid-season onion that the company is harvesting for the next few weeks. The label was created specifically to reflect the region where Bland Farms is the only onion grower to have lain roots. The company is also harvesting Sweet Onions from Peru under the Bland Farms label and will continue all the way through until January. Bland will ship its Vidalia onions through the Summer until September and is currently bringing the onions out of storage in the region. Owner and President, Delbert Bland, tells AndNowUKnow, "The market in general has been unusually low for this time of year but we are still offering our great quality onions and a larger crop in Vidalia than expected for our retail partners."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Simonian Fruit is launching into its grape program in Fowler, California. The company has recently added Champagne grapes to its portfolio with availability thru August. The new addition as well as Simonian's Thompson Seedless Natural grapes will be offered in 2# clamshells and 20# bulk/loose packs. Both specialty grapes are unique in the fact that they are small, sweet and grown without any cultural practices to make them large as we would do on standard table grapes. Sales Manager, Jeff Simonian, tells AndNowUKnow, "Consumer demand appears to be growing and the trend for retailers is to offer more varieties and different types of grapes to their customers. At Simonian Fruit, we have found a niche and are helping to diversify the produce department.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
