CALIFORNIA : SOUTHLAND FOCUS : Court to Review Plum Grower’s Ad Fight

The state Supreme Court is giving California’s largest plum grower another chance to challenge the state’s mandatory cooperative advertising program, which some growers contend is costly and ineffective. Last week, the court agreed to review Gerawan Farming’s case against the state. Gerawan and about a dozen other growers had challenged marketing orders in a 1st Amendment case that was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1997. The court ruled against Reedley-based Gerawan, finding that such programs were a form of economic regulation, not a violation of free-speech rights. Now Gerawan has amended its complaint and is seeking a judgment under the state’s Constitution. Gerawan, which sells his plums under the Prima label, pays about $300,000 annually to the California Tree Fruit Agreement to market peaches, plums and nectarines. He contends the generic advertising message hurts his sales because it implies that all California plums are of the same quality. Marilyn Watkins of the California Tree Fruit group says Gerawan is free to do its own advertising in addition to that done under the marketing order.