LOS ANGELES, CA - At ANUK, we often hear of shoppers searching high and low for Dulcinea^® Farms' melons. Eager to hear more about what makes the company’s program so successful, we recently had the chance to conduct an exclusive video with Greg Irby, Area Manager.

"We grow melons on about 2,000 acres in Yuma and melons are row crop style, which means the Tuscans are direct seed planted and the watermelons are transplants," he says in the video. "Melon categories evolved into melons that are better flavor, higher sugar, better shelf-life, and we try to grow melons that meet those requirements. We grow proprietary varieties from our seed suppliers that are unique to Dulcinea. No one else can grow the varieties that we do."

According to Greg, Dulcinea prefers dry and warm spring seasons and hot conditions from the middle of May until early July. Driven by the belief that flavor is the most important eating quality, Dulcinea truly stands out from the rest and incentivizes repeat melon purchases from its shoppers.

Before the product even reaches the shelf, though, Dulcinea is working behind the scenes to ensure the highest quality possible meets consumers in the aisle.

"When the fruit reaches the cold storage, we unload the trucks, we bring it inside, and it waits inside the cold room until we have room on the line to pack them on the line," Greg continues. “The process is: we put the bins and the totes on the pack line. We run them through a washer sanitizer system, which cleans the melons and sanitizes them, and then they go through a grading process on the other side of the washer sanitizer where any problems with the fruit are sorted out. So, before they go into the sizer, we're dealing with perfect melons. And once they enter the sizer, they're graded by the sizer computer and they're sent down the pack line and sent out various lanes for the different pack styles that we're packing that day for our customers.”

Dulcinea's melon varieties are available in multiple bags, including single-net bags, double-net bags for club stores, and any combination of those options.

"So, on a daily basis, our operations team coordinates with the sales group," Greg adds, explaining how Dulcinea optimizes sales through its various pack styles. "We get instructions from our sales team on what our needs are everyday, and those needs are detailed, and our packing plan for the field and for the packing shed and those instructions go out to our field teams and our production staff here at the production line. So there's a very tight, coordinated effort on a daily basis to pack exactly what we need for our customers."

And that’s a wrap! For more exclusive video interviews, don’t forget to check in on ANUK once you open your inbox.

Dulcinea® Farms