Georgia's peach growers, researchers still searching for sweet spot

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Georgia peach growers are experimenting with higher refrigeration temperatures to improve the flavor of shipped peaches.

Initial results of storing peaches at 55 degrees Fahrenheit are promising, with the fruit retaining juiciness and aroma.

The industry is cautiously optimistic about this change, as it requires a shift from decades-long practices.

Peaches—one thing you won’t find in a true Georgian’s refrigerator.

“It takes all the flavor out of them,” says Lawton Pearson, co-owner and fifth-generation farmer of Pearson Farm in Fort Valley, the heart of the state's most peach-productive region.

But for wholesale growers like Pearson who ship peaches up to thousands of miles away, chilling peaches immediately after harvest prevents peaches from softening, overri