The versatile Patterson variety is the most widely planted apricot in California and can be used in fresh and processed markets. California’s processed apricot industry, reeling from the impacts of foreign competition, declining consumer demand for canned products, a decreasing work force, and urban sprawl, could well be writing its epitaph, say apricot industry representatives. Such issues are not unique to apricots, and other cannery and processed fruits are facing similar challenges. The volume of processed pears from the Pacific Northwest and California has steadily declined in recent years, although sales prices for canned pears were up in 2006, reports […]