As rescue personnel in the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch worked frantically to find and care for victims of a massive 6.3 earthquake that struck Tuesday, Feb. 22, word was received by The Oppenheimer Group that its associates were unharmed.

EDINBURG,TX-- FronteraProduce Ltd., a vertically integrated grower, packer and shipper of fresh producein south Texas, announced Feb. 22 its recent partnership with Arizona melon grower Santa Rosa Produce and the opening of its new greater Cincinnati area sales office.

With an eye toward the environment, Christopher Ranch has made the transition from its hard plastic-style containers to resealable, recyclable bags.

The bags are manufactured to use 80 percent less material than the old style jars at an estimated savings of more than a half-million pounds of plastic. Additionally, the company said that it expects to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions released during transportation by 100,000 pounds.

MONTEREY, CA -- PRO*ACT has announced the promotion of Max Yeater to the office of president. Mr. Yeater, who has been with the organization for 17 years, was most recently chief operating officer, and prior to that he was vice president of procurement.

PALMETTO, FL -- This time a year ago, Florida tomato growers were singing the blues. A dozen consecutive nights of subfreezing weather in January and February wiped out the 2010 crop.

VIENNA, VA — The National Apple Month program announced Feb. 14 the winners of its fall 2010 retail and military display contest.

The annual contest provided retailers and the apple industry with an opportunity to showcase apples and apple products along with partner products "Marzetti" Caramel Apple Dips, "Smucker's" Natural Peanut Butter and "JIF" Natural Peanut Butter. These well-established brands are perfect partners for the promotion since their products complement apples perfectly.