Stellar Distributing of Madera, CA, is a leading importer of Italian and Chilean kiwifruit with conventional and organic California kiwifruit. Now they’ve added a kids’ kiwifruit program to promote healthy eating among children.

The 2013 California kiwifruit crop “looks to be down from last year, probably about 10 to 15 percent,” both for the company and for the industry, Chris Kragie, deciduous fruit manager at Madera, CA-based Western Fresh Marketing, said in an interview with The Produce News Sept. 13.

Sunkist Growers, based in Sherman Oaks, CA, is ushering in its 2013-14 citrus season at PMA Fresh Summit, promoting its full line of offerings at the trade show in New Orleans.

Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc. and its group of grocers and operators submitted the winning bid last week at the Belle Foods bankruptcy auction in Birmingham, AL. In the next few weeks, Rouses Markets will take ownership of six former Belle Foods stores from AWG, a retail-owner cooperative of which Rouses Markets is a member.

This is Rouses Markets' first expansion into Alabama. The company currently operates 38 stores in Louisiana and Mississippi. Three new stores in Louisiana were also recently announced.

MYRTLE BEACH, SC — The Southeast Produce Council surprised one of its own with a very special honor Friday evening, Sept. 27, during the council's 2013 fall conference, held here at the Marriott Resort & Spa at Grande Dunes, Sept. 25-28.

Whole Foods Market will launch a comprehensive rating system for produce and flowers sold in its stores to help shoppers make more informed purchases, the company announced Sept. 26.