“The trend to menu wild mushrooms in foodservice is not only at white-tablecloth operations any longer,” said Pete Wilder, marketing director for To-Jo Mushrooms in Avondale, PA. “A recent Technomic survey indicated that Oyster mushroom usage is up over 25 percent from a year ago. At the retail level, our sliced Shiitake sales have increased considerably over one year ago.”

Aspen Produce sales agent Michele Peterson had a positive outlook overall for the remainder of the 2013-14 shipping season as it winds down, and she had good things to say about the state’s potato shippers regarding the challenges they faced with shorter supplies.

“The 2013-14 shipping season has been slower than in the past,” Peterson said April 7, adding, “However, shipments are matching the inventory available.  Colorado has done an excellent job of managing their potato inventory and matching it to their sales.”

Fresh fruit and vegetable production is big business in Georgia, and prospects for future growth are bright. “[We] consistently rank in the top five nationally for fresh fruit and vegetable production,” said Samantha Kilgore, director of communication for the Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association. “We’re proud of that. There’s an increase of production in all areas.”

The National Mango Board, in collaboration with Nielsen-Perishables Group, published the 2013 Mango Performance Benchmark Report, which reveals positive trends for mangos in grocery stores, including an increase of 13.8 percent in mango dollars per store per week over the 2012 results. The report also shows an increase of 14.6 percent in mango volume per store per week.

Teri Miller, produce category manager at Delhaize America, headquartered in Salisbury, NC, will be the honored June 12 at the United Fresh Produce Association's annual Reception Honoring Women in Produce during the United Fresh 2014 convention in Chicago.

The Environmental Working Group's latest Dirty Dozen list unfairly targets apples and needlessly scares consumers about eating fresh fruits and vegetables, according to Marilyn Dolan, executive director of the Alliance for Food & Farming.

For the fourth year, apples topped the list of most pesticide-contaminated produce, EWG reports in its annual Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce.