Riding the same wave that flopped the U.S. House of Representatives from blue to red and narrowed the Democratic margin in the senate, Republican candidates for agriculture commissioner swept into office Nov. 2 in all seven states where the post was contested.

PITTSGROVE, NJ - Brazilian grape grower-exporter Luiz Carlos Romano of VDS Export Ltda., Petrolina, Brazil, and Omar Abu Ghazaleh, import manager of Pacific Trellis Fruit, based in Reedley, CA, sat in the offices of Bifulco's Four Seasons Cold Storage Inc., in Pittsgrove, NJ, on Nov. 8 to discuss Brazil's grape industry with The Produce News.

VDS ships grapes in sea containers to Philadelphia's Packer Avenue Terminal. Bifulco then provides cold treatment and refrigerated warehousing for the fruit.

WASHINGTON -- With the industry bracing for proposed federal growing standards for fresh produce next year, the Food & Drug Administration announced Nov. 4 a new public-private partnership that will supply growers and packers with on-the-farm training materials.

The new Produce Safety Alliance is a three-year, $1.15 million partnership funded by the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and housed at Cornell University, which already runs a Good Agricultural Practices program, FDA said.

ORLANDO, FL — Retailer-tagged TV is again a cornerstone of the North American promotion support program of the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association, based in Sonoma, CA.

Tom Tjerandsen, managing director of North America for the Chilean fruit promotion group, unveiled Chile's sophisticated 2010-11 marketing plans at an Oct. 15 Chilean fruit meeting, here, which preceded the PMA Fresh Summit convention and exposition.

Scattaglia Growers & Shippers LLC, headquartered in Traver, CA, "is proud to announce the opening of SGS Imports in Los Angeles," managing partner Louis Scattaglia told The Produce News Oct. 29.

Mr. Scattaglia added that “two well-respected veterans” of the Chilean fruit deal, Andres Orsini and his son Camilo Orsini, will be running the Los Angeles office.

“The L.A. office is brand new,” Mr. Scattaglia said. The import office is to “procure the best stone fruit, cherries and grapes from Chile” as well as Peruvian asparagus and grapes.

TUBAC, AZ -- The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas honored two industry leaders, one of them posthumously, as Pillars of the Industry during its 42nd Nogales Produce Convention & Golf Tournament, held Nov. 4-6 at the Tubac Golf Resort, here.

It is the first year the award has been given, and FPAA President Lance Jungmeyer said that it is expected that Pillar of the Industry recognitions will be a "fixture" at future annual Nogales conventions.