During its Dec. 4 holiday luncheon, the Fresh Produce & Floral Council will be auctioning opportunities to meet retailers for lunch, dinner or golf. Caterina's Club, an Orange County-based organization that provides meals for homeless children, will be the beneficiary of the auction.

Whole Foods Market’s first store in Brooklyn, NY, will open Tuesday, Dec. 17, at 214 3rd Street. At more than 56,000 square feet, the new store will offer a full range of high-quality natural and organic foods. It will also feature a 20,000-square-foot rooftop greenhouse built in partnership with New York’s Gotham Greens.

Arriving just in time for the holiday season, Opal and FirstFruits Marketing will leverage the holiday giving spirit with a tagline of "taste the difference, make a difference" and will donate a portion of all Opal apple sales to charity through its Youth Make a Difference Initiative.

The International Pineapple Conference held its first Global Pineapple Conference in San Jose, Costa Rica in early November. The conference addressed supply by country, demand for fresh and value-added pineapple, transportation delays at U.S. ports, technology, sustainability and social responsibility.

Paradise Produce Distributors, based in Lakeland, FL, recently added STEVE R. HITCHINGS to its sales staff.

Consumers continue to enjoy simultaneous purchase of two of their favorite fruits — apples and pears — during the holidays. Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers’ U-Pick the Flavors program is the ultimate retail mix-and-match marketing tool. “The idea is that you can mix different varieties to get the different flavors you want,” said national marketing representative Dan Wohlford.