The Delaware Department of Agriculture in Dover has launched a project to help small-volume fresh produce farms develop value-added products.

Through a business transaction that resulted in each company buying a significant percentage of the other, California-based Calavo Growers Inc. and Limoneira Co. have reached a strategic alliance that is expected to strengthen both firms.

The most immediate benefit, according to Calavo's Lee Cole, is the extra 10 million pounds of California avocados now in the Calavo camp. Mr. Cole, who is chairman of the board, CEO and president of Calavo, told The Produce News that the additional tonnage "is significant. In fact, it significantly reduces our packing costs."

Why is it that some companies and organizations cut out their sales representatives just to save a few measly dollars? Then top officers wind up complaining that sales are dragging and usually blame it on a poor economy or other excuses.

The field people I refer to are those who make sales happen out in the trenches. They're the on-the-road company sales representatives and organizational marketing merchandisers. Many are disappearing from the sales scene.

MEDFORD, NJ -- The Philadelphia wholesale produce community met June 3 for the fourth annual Lou Penza Sr. Memorial Golf Tournament at the Medford Village Country Club, here, and while rain throughout the day certainly dampened the course, there were only four no-shows as 76 golfers attended.

Several thousand eastern Oregon acres now planted in dehydrated onions could put pressure on the fresh onion industry following the planned closure of ConAgra Foods Inc.'s Umatilla, OR, dehydrating plant.

However, Don Horneck of Oregon State University's Extension Office in Hermiston, OR, said that because the multifarious food giant has announced it will stand by its contracts this season, any pressure to the fresh market is not likely to be felt until next year.

A June 7 U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission filing by Chiquita Brands International in Cincinnati brought to light news that the nation's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, cut its Chiquita banana orders by 33 percent.

Chiquita corporate spokesman Mike Mitchell told The Produce News that the lost business "is not new," with the Wal-Mart business having been lost in December over pricing differences. A new contract went into effect on May 1.