Bobby Stokes has joined Sunflower Market in Phoenix, AZ, as a full-line buyer for the supermarket chain. He had previously worked as the director of procurement for the retailer.

"I happily rejoined the company as a full-line buyer because of the amazing expansion we are experiencing - and growth, despite the economy," he said. "We work as a team - [there are] three full-line buyers - so we all have input and work with all vendors, carriers, etc."

San Leandro, CA-based Bay Cities Produce Co. Inc. has built a strong reputation during its more than 60 years in business, with most of that time spent as a tenant on the Oakland Produce Market.

The firm carries a full line of fresh, frozen and prepared fruits and vegetables, and it services restaurants and institutions. Foodservice makes up about 60 percent of Bay Cities Produce's business; processing - including custom- processed products - makes up the remaining 40 percent, said Albert Del Masso, the company's founder and president.

California fresh-market carrot production has held relatively steady for the past several years. The production total came in at 20.29 million hundredweight in 2008, a slightly higher tally than 2007.

In 2006, the tally was 20.89 million hundredweight and in 2005, the tally was 20.6 million hundredweight. Production came in at slightly over 20 million hundredweight in both 2003 and 2004.

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- On one fresh herb farm, visitors must don sterile surgical scrubs before entering a super-high-tech greenhouse. Inside, harvesters in blue scrubs and armed with sterilized scissors are suspended over the crop, hovering face down above broad rows, comfortably reaching a few inches to clip basil.

Tanimura & Antle Inc. has introduced new, exclusive scalloped clamshell packaging for its four- and six-count packages of "Artisan" lettuce, available for retail and clubstore sales.

The "Artisan" lettuce selections of fully mature, petite head lettuces are available in new, proprietary scalloped clamshell packaging designed to ensure freshness and a shelf life longer than packaged salad.

Winter has been a mixed bag for the Nogales, AZ, produce deal, with high volume and low prices on products in the tomato category for much of the winter and up-and-down volume on some vegetable items leading to volatile pricing that distributors say was at times high enough to discourage movement.