NOGALES, AZ – Produce industry veteran Hurley Neer joined Coast Produce as vice president of sales earlier this year, and while he was not necessarily looking to make a move, he knew joining such an esteemed company would be rewarding.

“I’ve known the folks at Coast for 20 years and have always had a great relationship with them,” he said. “It’s a first-rate outfit, and I’ve already developed some great relationships with the people here.”

NOGALES, AZ – As Delta Fresh Sales gets set to close the books on a successful 2022, it will be looking at 2023 with an eye on additional growth.

Delta CEO Atanasio Panousopoulos said he expects to grow by around 25 percent in the coming year. Its core items of tomatoes, cucumbers, Bell peppers and colored Bells will all be looking at a slight increase this year, in the range of 5-6 percent.

NOGALES, AZ  — As the Mexican produce season was beginning to ramp up in early November, Sherman Trucking, here, was preparing for increased demand for its services.

In his 35 years as a tomato specialist, Joe Bernardi of Bernardi & Associates has never seen the price of red round tomatoes soar as high as they currently are.  “The prices are historically high,” he said on Nov. 28. “Today a 25 pound box of rounds was being quoted at $50.95. A typical market at this time of year would be $16 to $20.”

What started off in 2006 as a program that comprised a few hundred thousand boxes of table grapes would soon turn into a produce brand accounting for more than 10 million boxes a year as Divine Flavor enters its 16th season. 

Over the last several months, Delta Fresh Sales, based in Nogales, AZ, has made multiple strategic moves to position itself for a new era of growth. Additions to product volumes, commodity mix and producing areas are all slated for this coming season and for year-round production on all its major commodities.