Thomas (Tommy) Crochet, a board member of the National Association of Produce Market Managers, died on June 2, due to complications from a fall the previous weekend.

The spring grape deals out of Sonora, Mexico, and California’s Coachella Valley both got off to an early start this year and are expected to finish earlier than usual for most varieties, but grape shippers anticipate a smooth transition from those districts into the San Joaquin Valley as the early vineyards in the San Joaquin are also ahead of schedule.

As part of its effort to explore alternate transportation methods, Giumarra announces its first load of product delivered by railroad: watermelons.

Giumarra Nogales shipped watermelons grown in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico to Jessup, MD, by 50-foot refrigerated railcar in May. This marks one of the first time in decades produce grown in Mexico was shipped via train.

Emil Serafino, vice president of Exp Group LLC, said the company continues to make improvements designed to benefit its customer base. “We expect to add organic bananas to our line this year,” he told The Produce News. “From our warehouse right now, we only sell full containers direct to the chains. This will give us the flexibility to sell to smaller customers that buy by the pallet. And we continue to also ripen plantain for our ethnic community costumers. In 2015, we also expect to introduce our own brand.

The changing nature of banana marketing in recent years has placed a new emphasis on quality control.

“Strict quality control is the number one conversation among our customers,” David Byrne, vice president of sales for Thermal Technologies, one of the industry’s larger designers and installers of produce ripening rooms, said in a company press release. “Working with some of North America’s largest retailers, we’ve found that the emphasis has become less about sourcing and more about quality and consistency at the point-of-sale.”

Mann Packing, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year as a grower-shipper-processor, redesigned its full line of fresh vegetable packaging to be more consumer focused and better represent the company’s third generation of family farmers.