Despite heavy summer rains, member growers of the Georgia Peach Council shipped 90% of full-crop estimates.
"One of the biggest challenges in a wet summer is consistency and we managed to have not only excellent consistency but excellent quality from start to finish," Will McGehee, the council's marketing director and the sales manager for the Fort Valley, Ga.-based Genuine Georgia Group and Pearson Farm, said in a news release. "From our standpoint as growers, 2013 will wind up being a great year."
Georgia growers also enjoyed strong retail support for the council's "Georgia in July" marketing kit, available in target markets throughout the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest.
The kit included point of sale merchandising display bins, Georgia Peaches farm market bags, recipes and nutritional information. Retailers were also encouraged to share the Sweet Georgia Peaches Facebook application with consumers. The app allows consumers to send a "virtual" Georgia Peach to sweeten someone's day. The app can be accessed by logging onto http://www.facebook.com/SweetGeorgiaPeaches.