The year 2014 will see a new beginning for the Georgia Grown Vidalia Sweet Onion, the official state vegetable. The decision has been made to set a mandatory packing date so that no Vidalia onions will be packed or shipped prior to April 21, 2014.

Southern Specialties, in conjunction with its grower-partner Meridian, announced it has added a new raspberry variety to the its berry lineup.

Eric and Ryan Jensen are expected to enter a plea of guilty in connection with six misdemeanor charges of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce. Documents to this effect were filed separately Oct. 15 in U.S. District Court in Denver by the attorneys representing each of the brothers.

A hearing for a formal change of plea will be held on Oct. 22.

Each plaintiff may each face up to one-year prison sentences and a fine of $250,000 per charge. The terms of the plea agreement are not expected to be made public until the hearing date.

“There is a lot of excitement going on at Basciani Mushroom Farms these days,” Fred Recchiuti, general manager of the Avondale, PA-based company told The Produce News. “Our new ‘Produce Pro’ software is up and running, and it’s an amazing system. It allows us to mock recalls that puts us through exercises in case there is ever an unlikely situation. I can trace back to the room the mushrooms were produced and forward to every customer that received from that lot, and I can do it in 15 minutes.”

After experiencing significant growth over the past 10 years, J&J Produce is expanding two of its facilities, located in White Pine, TN, and Adel, GA.

With the influx of business and a 33 percent increase in planted acreage, J&J decided to expand the cooler capacity in the White Pine facility by about 50 percent through the addition of more refrigerated repacking rooms, new pre-coolers and cucumber and pepper lines. It has been in operation already at this location for more than five years.

Los Angeles-based Gourmet Trading, a year-round distributor of fresh asparagus and blueberries, announced the hiring of EVANGELINA KAUDZE as food-safety director.