PHILADELPHIA -- Procacci Bros./Garden State Farms, here, is introducing a new series of proprietary melons that will be collectively marketed within the "Santa Sweets" brand melon program.

Company President Mike Maxwell told The Produce News shortly before the United Produce Show in Chicago, where the new additions to the melon program were unveiled, that the volume of the melons is increasing and should be in strong supply by June. "We're getting pumped up," Mr. Maxwell said.

CHICAGO -- The produce industry breezed its way back to The Windy City for the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association's Produce Expo & Conference, held May 6-9 here at McCormick Place.

Now in its third year in Chicago, the convention, which is co-located with four other trade shows and together are dubbed The Power of Five, has "been on a growing cycle," according to Amy Philpott, United's vice president of marketing and industry relations.

Ryan Cherry looks back to some important advice that he received from his father 11 years ago, advice that would serve him well as he searched for a career path.

Mr. Cherry had just earned his degree in marketing management from the British Columbia Institute of Technology and was mulling over his options as to what industries he could go into.

At the time, Mr. Cherry was working in the produce department at Save On Foods and his father, who had worked in the food industry for many years, saw his son's dilemma and said something to him that would change his life.

BALTIMORE -- The convenience chain Sheetz Inc. said that its popular fruit cups have been a successful model for marketing fresh-cut products, but other fresh-cut offerings have been a disappointment.

In the retail sector, news abounds about club stores and super stores. Organics are also making headlines, whether it's the growth of Whole Foods or the expansion of that line in Wal-Mart.

Most of the news about traditional supermarkets tends to revolve around disappointing quarterly financial earnings or the sale of one chain or another. Some have argued that the traditional supermarket is a thing of the past.

NEW YORK - -The Florida Tomato Committee, headquartered in Maitland, FL, made a healthy statement on the morning of May 2 when it hosted the morning "Skipping breakfast is bad" event here at the Cornell Club. Samantha Winters, director of education and promotion, and Reggie Brown, manager, represented the committee, and they brought Steven Schwartz of Ohio State University.