PHILADELPHIA -- "Dredging is underway as we speak," said Robert Blackburn, the senior deputy executive director of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, based in Philadelphia.

On June 22, he spoke of work by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deepen the Delaware River channel to 45 feet. The port authority had a leading role in deepening the channel. This concept eventually overcame resistance from environmentalists and some political sectors in New Jersey and Delaware, which also face the river.

R.D. Offutt Co., based in Fargo, ND, on July 12 acquired the assets of Ryan Potato Co., which is described in the July 20 edition of the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association's Potato Bytes publication as "an East Grand Forks, MN-based buyer of washing-quality reds, whites, russets and yellow-flesh varieties of potatoes."

Potato Bytes further said that Ryan Potato "is a nationally recognized name in the fresh table potato industry with over 100 years of experience in the potato industry."

SALINAS, CA -- Mann Packing Co. Inc. recently hired John Haydock as senior vice president of sales.

Mr. Haydock has spent his entire career in the food business. He began as a sales representative in 1980 with American Home Food Products. He then moved to Good Humor-Breyers Ice Cream Co., a division of Kraft, from 1985 to 1999. While there he led sales for the "Breyers," “Light n Lively,” “Good Humor,” “Popsicle,” “Klondike” and “Minute Maid” brands.

FRESNO, CA — A tiny moth, just 0.03 inches long, called the European Grapevine Moth, has been detected in a California table grape growing area southeast of Fresno which has the potential to cause extensive crop damage and also to disrupt trade.

The California Grape & Tree Fruit League has been working with government agencies and with the wine grape, raisin grape and grape concentrate industries to control the spread of the moth and to minimize the adverse effects of quarantines on trade.

"While fresh grapes are known to contain at least 500 different phytonutrient antioxidants, Pandol Bros. Inc. wants consumers to learn more about the powerful antioxidant resveratrol that is found naturally in the skin of each and every grape," according to a June 14 Pandol press release.

In an effort to better serve its customers, Eatontown, NJ-based Village Farms has opened a new facility in Delaware.