Month: July 2012

On July 20, 2012, Limoneira Company, a leading agribusiness with prime agricultural land and operations, real estate and water rights in California, entered into an agreement to acquire 230 acres of agriculture property in the San Joaquin Valley of California for $1.3 million. The transaction is expected to close in August 2012. …

QAI (Quality Assurance International), a leading certifier of organic and gluten-free products, has added Quick Response (QR) codes to its certified product certificates as an added layer of security for QAI-certified companies. The QR codes are being added to ensure authenticity and guard against fraudulent certificates, a problem experienced by other certification organizations, which is now being addressed by the National Organic Program. Falsely representing products as certified USDA organic violates the law and federal organic regulations and is punishable by fines. …

The organic apple and pear harvest has begun in California.  As in past years, the start of the domestic harvest has been greeted with strong demand from the organic market, as retailers vie to promote the freshest organic fruit of the summer. …