WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Eastern Produce Council held its first meeting following the summer hiatus, drawing industry members from throughout the New York metropolitan area.

Food Lion is partnering with its customers to help solve hunger by launching specially marked Food Lion Feeds bagged apples for sale in its stores. The effort will help provide 1 million meals to feed families facing hunger in local communities across the grocer’s 10-state footprint.

North Carolina is the nation’s leading grower of both sweet potatoes and tobacco, and two or possibly three new facilities opening Sept. 30 and in the second quarter of 2015 will build on both products to create new markets for farmers. The new companies will be located in Farmville and Nashville, and possibly Goldsboro, in eastern North Carolina where about half of U.S. sweet potatoes are grown.

Kevin Donovan, national sales manager for Phillips Mushroom Farms in Kennett Square, PA, told The Produce News that the company’s organic line of mushrooms is really gaining ground in demand and that customers are looking for more organic products on retail shelves at their grocery stores.

Apples and innovation go hand in hand at Columbia Marketing International. Steve Lutz, vice president of marketing, said emphasis on brand development, organic sales and category management will keep the company and its customers at the top of their game.

The company is headquartered in Wenatchee, WA, and is among Washington’s leading tree fruit producers. CMI markets a full apple manifest. “Our volume will be up this year overall,” he told The Produce News. “The biggest changes will be organics and our proprietary apple brands.”

Love Beets, a line of premium, all-natural, ready-to-eat beets, announced a company-wide rebranding campaign, featuring a fresh new look that more accurately reflects the brand's whimsical approach to preparing and eating beets. Its new, state-of-the-art packaging better aligns with its commitment to providing consumers with the best-tasting, highest-quality products.