With grower partners from Mexico, up through California and the Northwest, OGC will keep your shoppers in a melon state of mind all season.

Melons have been on since May from Mexico and California and as the Northwest season kicks off, OGC’s melon buyer Rachel Pienovi is sourcing delicious melon from growers in Hermiston, Oregon and Eltopia, Washington.

This summer, it's time to take a closer look at the honeydew melons your shoppers are craving. Don’t judge a melon by its rind – these three varieties pack unexpected flavor and color inside. 

Organic melons kick off their season in April/May from Mexico with a limited selection. As harvest moves north to California, two primary regions contribute: the desert offers fruit in June/July, while the Central Valley starts in early June and extends through the fall. The Northwest season begins in mid-July, peaks in early August, and concludes as the weather cools in early September. OGC wraps up the season with a limited offering from Mexico in October and November.

Last week, a team from OGC headed down to California’s Imperial Valley to wander through melon fields, chat with growers and get a taste of first-of-the-season fruit.

Use this collection of resources to educate, entice and delight staff and shoppers, keeping melon sales strong past Labor Day!

New to the lineup for 2024 are two additional varieties, dry farmed Cantaloupe and Melonade, a sweet tart surprise.

OGC coworkers visited growers across the Northwest last week to check on this year’s harvests of Oregon and Washington-grown melons. From the Willamette Valley to Eltopia, Washington and Hermiston, Oregon organic melon magic is happening across the region and now’s the time to go big on these tasty varieties!

From arid eastern Washington, grower Alan Schreiber of Agricultural Development Group is harvesting a delicious collection of organic specialty melons.

Starting to see the summer sales slump? With road trips, vacations and packed summer schedules, it’s not uncommon for shoppers’ time and attention to be drawn in many different directions. This is a great time to focus their attention on key summer items to capture all possible sales with eye-catching and informative POP!

“I grew up on a diversified farm in Missouri,” Alan Schreiber jokes. “We grew soybeans AND corn.”

Now living and growing in Eltopia, WA. with partner Leisl Zappler, Alan is more than a farmer. He’s also a professor and founder of Agricultural Development Group (ADG), which specializes in agriculture research focused on fertility, insects, disease, weed control and variety trials.