In early July, Monterey, CA-based Colorful Harvest LLC rolled out a tray pack of its "Scarlet Red Sweet Corn." For the past three years the company has sold the corn solely in bulk.

The company is harvesting its California crop in Merced and has super-sweet seed varieties, said Colorful Harvest Chief Operating Officer Doug Ranno. The company also has trials in other areas of the state. The harvest season in California will run 10-12 weeks, Mr. Ranno said.

Ripe Thing Marketing Services, located 10 miles south of Cincinnati in Crescent Springs, KY, is pushing tomato flavor.

Progreso Produce in Boerne, TX, has announced the opening of a branch office in Visalia, CA, that will be headed by Ki Thompson, who has over 20 years of experience in produce sales and marketing.

Born and raised in the Salinas Valley, Mr. Thompson has a strong understanding of all aspects of the industry and has a diverse sales history in nearly every California and Arizona commodity, as well as Mexican and South American produce.

Rochester, NY-based Birds Eye Foods Inc. announced July 25 that it would exit the vast majority of its non-branded frozen vegetable business to concentrate its resources on its branded segment.

WASHINGTON -- Produce businesses across the country will benefit from new agricultural marketing grants doled out by Agriculture Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner on July 14.

"These grants will be used to explore new and innovative approaches to marketing U.S. food and agricultural products, and to improve the efficiency and performance of our marketing system," said Mr. Conner.

WALLA WALLA, WA -- Let me dispel any myths right off the bat. This was not my first rodeo, although to a casual observer it might have appeared so.

In truth, I have been distance running for about 15 years, participating in two half-marathons and a few shorter events. But with all the desk and phone work time I put in (I'm begging for sympathy here), I haven't competed seriously since the turn of this decade.