Jeff Simonian, sales manager with the Simonian Fruit Company, joins Behind the Greens today to talk about the company's love and nurturing of pomegranates. Pomegranates are an exceptional Fall fruit, offer several different varieties throughout the course of the season. The Urbanekgranate variety which is a proprietary variety that the company produces, is one of the first that Simonian harvests. They have a six month season from September to March and this year is promising to be a nice crop. The fruit's color is wonderful, both the outside and inside. The fruit is sizing nicely, even though the harvest is running two weeks later than normal. But Simonian Fruit is up to the challenge and is looking forward to a wonderful promotional fruit in the pomegranate. Early season varieties are the Foothill Early, Urbanekgranate, and Smith. Mid-season varieties are the Early Wonderful, with the final variety presenting the Wonderful, which boasts an exceptional fruit and is the most popular of all the offerings.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> The company is working towards organic certification on their pomegranates which is a three year process. The pomegranates, as the are, do not requiring much spraying, and so they are essentially a clean piece of fruit already. For 35 years, the company has been picking their fruit and has a developed a tradition of impeccable harvesting at the peak of ripeness.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Food safety is at the forefront of the company's vision. Those working in the field are trained in produce handling, proper harvesting techniques, safe equipment training. The company also has a strong concern for the workers themselves and are supplied with plenty of water and shade. All of their facilities are Primus Certified, both the field and the packing house. And they have full traceability on their products from the field to the end-consumers to ensure a good, clean and safe piece of fruit.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">www.simonianfruit.com<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
