VANCOUVER, BC -- Fans of organics have El Niño to thank this spring. Favorable weather conditions and efficient growing methods will yield a quality crop mix featuring abundant volumes of tomatoes-on-the-vine from Origin Organic Farms Inc. in Delta, BC, during the Canadian greenhouse season.

SALINAS, CA -- D'Arrigo Bros. Co. of California on March 26 reached the $1 million donation mark benefiting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. A Pink Party was held at D'Arrigo's headquarters in Spreckels, CA, attended by 250 customers, D'Arrigo family members, shareholders and elected officials.

California has spring, summer and storage onions. Taken all together, the state has the third-largest onion acreage in the nation, behind only the Idaho/eastern Oregon area and the Columbia Basin in the Pacific Northwest.

Wayne Mininger, executive vice president of the National Onion Association, told The Produce News that dehydrated onions are not included in these acreage totals. If they were, California would rank No. 1 in onion production, he said.

Continued growth at Ippolito International LP has created the need to add two additional salespeople to its team, a company official told The Produce News.

Produce veteran Bill Vargas and newcomer Brittany Corda recently joined the Ippolito sales team, according to Butch Corda, the firm's general manager.

Palmetto, FL-based Taylor & Fulton Packing LLC has partnered with Fish Farms in Newport, TN, to provide fresh tomatoes to the East Coast on a year- round basis.

The company also brought aboard industry veteran Barry Stein to coordinate the partnership.

"I've been doing this a long time," Mr. Stein told The Produce News March 29. "I'm excited to be here to help the company coordinate and offer the trade tomatoes 12 months a year. Good, Eastern tomatoes 12 months a year - that's hard to beat."

The Canada Border Services Agency has initiated an investigation into the alleged injurious dumping of greenhouse Bell peppers originating in or exported from the Netherlands.

The Ontario Produce Marketing Association in Toronto issued a notice of the action March 31 to its membership.

The investigation follows a complaint filed by the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers in Leamington, ON, alleging that the dumping of these goods is harming Canadian production by causing lost sales, price erosion, price suppression, reduction in gross margins and reduced profits.