Ron Burkle, who has made a fortune buying and selling supermarket stock as well as supermarkets themselves, has made major stock investments in Pathmark Stores and Wild Oats Markets in the past few months, leading to much speculations about the future of those operations.

MONTEREY, CA " The Culinary Center of Monterey, here on Cannery Row, is gaining recognition not just for teaching budding chefs how to ply their craft but also for bringing a sense of togetherness to visiting businesses.

In its four-plus years, CCM?s corporate team-building service has attracted clients as diverse as the Pentagon, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and Driscoll Strawberry Associates Inc. Mary Pagan, executive chef and owner of CCM, figures that more than 15,000 people have cooked in CCM?s kitchens.

A drop in fresh potato prices from an already low five-year average of 4.9 cents per pound to just 3.85 cents per pound for the 2003 season is in large measure a result of a flood of low-priced processed french fries coming into the U.S. domestic market from Canada, according to the Idaho potato industry.

Industry representatives, under the auspices of Potato Growers of Idaho, recently petitioned the federal government for financial assistance in compensation for the losses they incurred due to the depressed markets.

An agreement that became official April 1 brings together two well-known names in the domestic fruit industry under a single sales roof.

C.M. Holtzinger Fruit Co. and Snokist Growers, both based in Yakima, WA, reached a long-term agreement in which Holtzinger will handle all fresh fruit sales and marketing activities for the Snokist cooperative.

As the new floral marketing editor and sales manager, it is a pleasure to greet you. I was very flattered when Cindy Long recommended me for this job and very happy when it was offered to me.

Cindy took the kernel of an idea for this section and presented it to The Produce News; they liked the idea and Floral Marketing was born.

Under Cindy, Floral Marketing developed into a section that is worthy of being read.

FRESNO, CA " Loren Bollinger and Michael Jameson, founding partners of Tristone International LLC, here, have parted company, with Mr. Jameson continuing to operate as Tristone and Mr. Bollinger continuing business as Sun Crest-Bollinger International Inc., a company he formed nearly 12 years ago.

The parting was amicable, according to Mr. Bollinger. "I've known Mike for many, many years. We?re still friends."