Pomegranate shipping season begins

FOWLER, Calif. (KFSN) -- Farmers always look forward to the first day of harvest, and shippers can't wait to get fresh fruit out to the public.

The world awaits these shiny red pomegranates grown and packed by the Simonian Fruit Company in Fowler. Forty percent of the pomegranates they grow are shipped overseas to countries like Brazil and Australia.

Jeff Simonian says South Korea can't seem to get enough of the sweet red arils. He said, "The largest export market now is Korea. They probably take about 70 percent of all the fruit that's exported. I mean it's a huge amount. Last year the industry packed about 6-7 million boxes and Korea probably took a million."

The thick skin helps protect the fruit on long trips. The big red fruits are cleaned, graded and sized before workers pack them into boxes.

Consumers for years have heard about the health benefits of pomegranates, though many still have never tried them.

"There's been studies that have been done that only a certain percentage, around 18 percent of the people in the U.S. know what a pomegranate is or ever tried one," said Simonian. "It's a fruit that's been around forever but it's fairly new to maybe people who didn't grow up with them in the backyard."

The pomegranates are sold under two names: the Simco brand which is sold locally at Costco and Vons, and the Nacirema brand which backwards spells American.