There are watermelon festivals, and then there are Watermelon Festivals. For more than 50 years, the annual Sunland-Tujunga (CA) Watermelon Festival has drawn thousands from the Los Angeles area, and it has finally gotten so big that the 2013 event will require a new home: the legendary Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, CA. This year, the National Watermelon Promotion Board will also be stepping in as a sponsor for the Aug. 14-16 festivities, hosted by the Sunland-Tujunga Lions Club and benefitting schools, youth and community activities.

Sage Fruit Co. lives by the motto that one-size marketing programs do not fit all. “Most retailers want to differentiate themselves from their competition to keep from having the ‘me, too’ syndrome,” President Chuck Sinks told The Produce News.

Global sustainability begins at home for Peri & Sons Farms. “Sustainability relies on a balance of environment, society and economics. All three are equally important for the longevity of not only the company, but for global sustainability as well,” Director of Food Safety & Organics Lindsay Dixon told The Produce News on May 9. “In regard to environmental sustainability, it is not just a philosophy at Peri & Sons; it is a way of life. It has to be. Not only is sustainable farming morally right, but farming is our livelihood.

Members of the produce industry recently had the chance to meet Kary Osmond at the Ontario Produce Marketing Association booth at the 2013 CPMA convention, where she was promoting the Produce Made Simple campaign. Ms. Osmond, former host of the CBC’s cooking show, “Best Recipes Ever,” has joined with the OPMA to create a healthy living program which stresses simplicity and learning the fundamentals of working with produce.

Sixteen-year-old Emily Perez, a Pueblo, CO, Centennial High School sophomore and outstanding member of that school’s track team, was named winner of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee’s Healthy Choice essay contest.

For her essay entitled “Loving Healthy Colorado Potatoes,” the student athlete received an Adventure Pack valued at $300. The pack contained redeemable gift cards which enable Ms. Perez to continue her “healthy and active lifestyle and having fun at the same time.”

Rivermaid Trading Co. in Lodi, CA, handled sales of stone fruit and other products grown and packed by WesPak Inc. during the 2012 season, following a merger of the two companies’ sales groups April 1, 2012. On Oct. 1, following the end of the shipping season, Rivermaid and WesPak finalized a full merger that brought WesPak into the Rivermaid group of companies and significantly expanded the Rivermaid product line, according to Blair Richardson, president and managing partner of WesPak.