Mark Munger, formerly vice president of marketing at Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce in San Diego, has left A&W after 10 years to join MCL Fresh in Los Angeles as vice president of sales and marketing, a newly created position. He started in his new position Feb. 1.

A weak tornado damaged greenhouses and destroyed about a fourth of the Valentine’s Day lisianthus crop Dec. 22 at Kitayama Bros., a cut-flower grower in Watsonville, CA. “It was a freak occurrence, [a waterspout that] came ashore on a Saturday morning, traveled about a mile and lasted only three minutes,” said Robert Kitayama, president and chief executive officer of the company.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — An estimated 6,000 industry professionals attended the 40th annual edition of the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition Jan. 22-25 at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Sponsored by the Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association, the show had 400 companies exhibiting in 800 booths.

Bobbi Ecker of Florapros recalled seeing the billboards along highways in the Midwest promoting cut flowers. She spoke to a crowd where many wore yellow buttons proclaiming, “I help people express feelings with flowers!” Several in that audience at the 2011 International Floriculture Expo recalled hearing infomercials on research documenting the benefits of having flowers in the home.

At the end of January, things looked good for Valentine’s Day, one of the biggest floral sales holidays of the year. California was recovering from a cold and wet winter with plenty of flowers. There had been no big floods or freezes in Colombia and Ecuador. Shippers had laid on extra routes. Supermarkets and wholesalers had placed their orders.

Scott Mabs has been named chief executive officer at Homegrown Organic Farms, an organic fresh produce marketing company, representing over 3,500 acres of organic produce based in Porterville, CA. He replaces Tom Avinelis, who has held the position since 2005, but who will now become more involved in the operations side of the business.