The fresh-cut fruit category continues to expand dramatically every year, fueled by consumer demand. Today, consumers want fresh, nutritious and flavorful cut fruit packed for their safety and convenience.

Lifestyles are rapidly changing and the result has been a trend toward eating healthy. Retailers should take full advantage of this wellness progression by promoting more value-added fresh-cut fruit products.

Transportation experts are predicting that if the new hours of service regulations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration go into effect in July as scheduled, productivity will decrease and the net effect will be the loss of truck capacity and a significant increase in freight rates.

“The berry category continues to grow for us,” Dominic Russo, buyer and sales associate for Rocky Produce Inc., located on the Detroit Produce Terminal, told The Produce News. “The entire berry category — blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries — is doing extremely well. We’re currently bringing them in from Chile and Argentina, and we source domestically when they are available. Strawberries are coming out of Florida [mid-January]. The quality is great and prices are really good.

Jeremy Olesky is the on-site general manager of Gourmet’s Finest’s Detroit facility, which the company opened four years ago. The firm has two convenient locations that allow it to ship its high-quality mushrooms to many major cities quickly. Besides its 10,000-square-foot distribution center in Detroit, its headquarters is in Avondale, PA, in the middle of America’s mushroom heartland.

Kontos Fruit Co. hired ADAM PRIDMORE on June 11, 2012.

Mr. Pridmore works as a sales representative for the Birmingham, AL-based company and handles out-of-state accounts, as well as local deliveries and door trade. The company handles a full line of produce.

Tapping into the U.S. Potato Board’s current Five Distinct Potato Seasons campaign, the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee is spotlighting Centennial State spuds in several consumer-oriented promotions throughout 2013.

Starting with the January-February Nurture Me segment of the USPB yearlong consumer-direct platform, CPAC is touting the versatility of Colorado potatoes, which rank in the top three vegetable crops grown in the state.