Cesar Mora, a third-generation farmer in Reedley, California, has been giving away more than 100,000 pounds (45,359 kilograms) of white nectarines since Monday rather than sell them while he fights a lawsuit brought by Giumarra Brothers Fruit Co. The company filed suit in 2023, asserting exclusive rights over the white nectarine variety Monalise and accusing Mora of breaching a contract by selling fruit to other packers; a trial is scheduled later this month. Mora says he could not bear to watch the crop rot and accused Giumarra of unfair and fraudulent business practices. Giumarra responded that the dispute involves two written agreements and should be resolved in court, and it says Star Fruits Diffusion owns the Monalise rights while Giumarra holds sublicensing rights for testing, production and sale. Thousands of visitors have come to Mora’s orchard to collect free fruit, where family members and volunteers have been bagging nectarines wearing “No Nectarines Wasted” T-shirts. The giveaway has let Mora move the harvest while the legal fight over who may commercially market the variety proceeds to trial.
