"Freeport is intact and appears to have weathered Hurricane Rita relatively well," Mike Mitchell, director of corporate communications for Chiquita Brands International Inc. in Cincinnati, said Sept. 26, The port of Freeport [in Texas] has told us that the ship channel is currently open for daylight vessel movements. They are awaiting survey results from the U.S. Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers, but reports indicate that the ship channel is expected to be open sometime Tuesday [the Sept. 27] or Wednesday for 24-hour traffic.

PHILADELPHIA  The extent of fruit damage from a freeze in Chilean vineyards and orchards on, and to a lesser extent before, Sept. 12 remains something of a mystery. Scattered areas in Chile had a freeze on Sept. 12, but there were lesser freezes in the country running from late August until Sept. 12.

Jim Pandol of Pandol Associates Marketing Inc. in Delano, CA, said Sept. 27 that the impact of the cold weather on Chile's fruit exports will be "significant but not disastrous."

Building on its commitment to helping its members understand transportation issues critical to the fresh produce industry, particularly the recently amended U.S. Department of Transportation hours of service rules, the Produce Marketing Association released via its web site a question-and-answer guide to the new regulations. These regulations went into effect Oct. 1.

Mike Casazza has been changing keys within the produce industry for a few years now.

The 27-year-old aspiring musician works as a sales manager at Fresh Directions International, an avocado house in Ventura, CA. Mr. Casazza grew up in the small farming town of Hughson, CA, and was exposed to the trade at an early age.

"I have family that's involved," he said. But the way I got fully involved was when my father was a vice president at Del Monte.

SAN FRANCISCO -- When Ray Mah, Joe Thomas and Steve Ng joined their three separate businesses to form Fresh Green on the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market, it was a decision based more on the future than the present.

"None of the businesses were in any trouble," said Mr. Thomas, formerly president of DeMattei Bros. "We just said, 'Let's try it.' All of us are hard workers, so we knew that wouldn't enter into the picture.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Shing Ho took his background in catering for renowned San Francisco-based Bill Graham Presents and fashioned a wholesale produce company -- VegiWorks Inc. -- that delivers fresh produce to its clients.