To celebrate celery and the vegetable’s versatility, Duda Farm Fresh Foods is inviting cooks to enter the Sweet Celery Bake-Off and create an original dessert recipe featuring celery. Participants have a chance to win a grand prize of $500 and be a featured recipe on Duda’s website.
 

Consumers are always looking for ways to stretch their food dollars. “A byproduct of this has been an increased interest in some of the items that fall within the dry vegetable category, such as Bell peppers,” said Michael Castagnetto, category general manager at Robinson Fresh.

ST. LOUIS — An elegant stained glass mosaic tops the large display windows at the offices of Fresh Start Marketing LLC. The 110-year-old colored glass in this old St. Louis neighborhood on Macklind Avenue reflects a gentler, more formal era. Many of the buildings, including this one, are crafted from dark red brick.

The cozy atmosphere of the well-kept old building is warmed by the presence of black bear and elk hides on the walls. The beautiful pieces are gifts from onion growers who are hunters in the wild Northwest.

The first Bartlett pears of the season are set to harvest in California’s Sacramento River growing region July 7. According to the official crop estimate set by the California Pear Advisory Board at its June 12 meeting, the state’s total crop of Bartlett pears is expected to be just over 2.6 million 36-pound packages, slightly down from the four-year average crop size of 2.9 million packages.

MountainKing, one of North America’s larger producers of Butter Gold potatoes, has announced the rollout of its Butter Gold “Summer Gold Rush” retail merchandising program for 2014, featuring high-graphic bins, comprehensive marketing support and prizes to retailers with the most creative “Summer Gold Rush” displays.

ST. LOUIS — Sean Kelley is in his first year as market manager of the St. Louis Produce Market Inc., having taken the position held by his late father, Pat Kelley. Pat Kelley passed away in January 2014 after losing a battle with colon cancer. Sean Kelley said he had worked on the market for five years with his father, so he is very well-acquainted with the market operators and their needs. Pat Kelley worked on the St.