The National Watermelon Promotion Board’s mission centers on a single, industry-wide objective: increasing consumer demand for watermelon. 

As the watermelon industry gets set to gather for its annual convention Feb. 19-22 in St. Pete Beach, FL, NWPB continues its year-round work to support this industry by strengthening watermelon’s relevance, visibility and value in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

A sales representative placed a call to the produce buyer of a large supermarket chain. “Hi, I’d like to set up an appointment to show you some new fresh-cut salad mixes of organically grown baby lettuce varieties that include organic salad dressings. The bags are biodegradable and very consumer-friendly.”

Without hesitation, the buyer replied, “No thanks, we don’t need another salad mix. We’re out of shelf space now on packaged salads. Besides, we’ve been doing business with the same supplier for five years and don’t want to change. Sorry, I’m in a hurry, good-bye.”

North Bay Produce is a cooperative of approximately 30 grower-owners from North, Central and South America with apples being one of its main commodities. 

“The winter market has been strong, with significant movement in both domestic and export markets,” said Ken Korson, apple category manager for the Traverse City, MI-based company.  “The season is shaping up to remain robust for both processed and fresh apples.”

Wada Farms has been part of the potato industry since 1943, and over the decades it has  grown into a national grower-shipper and marketer. 

Craig Messmer and Ashley Berlinger have joined Capespan North America as sales executives. 

Messmer has over 23 years’ experience in the produce industry, most recently as key account manager for a major fresh fruit importer and distributor where he managed numerous national programs over a range of product lines. He lives in Portland, OR.

In an upcoming In the Trenches column, featured in The Produce News' Feb. 9 issue, Ron Pelger writes about produce managers keeping an open mind when it comes to new products and ideas. Breaking routine is hard — for retailers as well as consumers.