TORONTO — As part of its education initiative, the 2013 CPMA convention offered a business panel titled: “Produce: What Do Canadians Want?” The answer, according to the panel presenters, is a variety of retailers who understand and meet local needs.

CHARLOTTE, NC — The room held three desks and three chairs, and little else. No windows. No fancy plaques on the walls. In fact, nothing on the walls. This is, after all, a start-up operation only a little more than 90 days old.

New programs and expansions are always exciting at Procacci Bros. in Philadelphia, and this year is no exception.

Produce veteran Anthony Totta, who founded the consulting firm Grow My Profits, has the combination of professional qualifications and industry know-how to ensure clients receive the best return on investment by identifying the right product mix and appropriate sales strategies.

“As of late April, New York’s apple trees look absolutely perfect,” Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association in Fishers, NY, told The Produce News April 29. “Growers are right on track with a textbook perfect season at this point.

On May 2, United Supermarkets LLC helped serve the hungry in local communities for the second year in a row by making a donation of 12,800 pounds of apples to the South Plains Food Bank in Lubbock, TX. This donation is part of 40,000 pounds of apples United is giving to food banks in Abilene, Amarillo, Lubbock and Wichita Falls, TX.

The donation signals the company’s committed participation in the Take a Bite Out of Hunger program sponsored by FirstFruits Marketing of Washington.