Cincinnati-based Chiquita Brands International Inc. announced July 14 that it has made a series of senior management changes, among them that its board of directors has elected Tanios Viviani, 44, as president of Fresh Express.

Chiquita acquired Fresh Express -- a U.S. market leader in value-added salads -- last month.

PHILADELPHIA -- Despite a huge local marketing opportunity for Pennsylvania growers, only 1 percent of the produce sold by the Philadelphia Regional Produce Center is grown in the state.

In an effort to change that, Dennis Wolff, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, toured the Philadelphia market July 13 and held a subsequent press conference to discuss a new state program to promote Pennsylvania-grown produce. The event was moderated by Philadelphia market general manager Sonny DiCrecchio.

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- The U.S Department of Agriculture is planning to add fruits and vegetables to the Women, Infants & Children program, a move that could translate into $80 million for the produce industry once the program is in full swing, Steven Christensen, deputy administrator of the Special Nutrition Program of the USDA's Food & Nutrition Service, said at a July 13 industry meeting.

The public may get its first look at a revised WIC package as early as January, with a final rule expected in November.

As the 2005 fresh grape harvest gets underway in California's San Joaquin Valley, there are some striking differences between the current season and the 2004 season.

Most notable is that last year was one of the earliest harvests on record, district by district and variety by variety. The first harvest on many vineyards in 2004 came two to three weeks earlier than normal, and some growers said that it was the earliest start they remember.

FreshPoint Inc., a leading specialty produce distributor based in Houston, has signed a purchase agreement to acquire The Fowler & Huntting Co. Inc., a full-line fresh fruit and vegetable distributor headquartered in Hartford, CT.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close by July 30.

Fowler & Huntting was founded in 1865 and supplies foodservice operations and retail customers throughout Connecticut, Rhode Island, western Massachusetts, southern Vermont and eastern New York.