MONTE VISTA, CO — Lower prices nationwide for russet potatoes had slowed movement on other varieties for Colorado shippers, but total shipments as of Jan. 13 were about 10-12 percent above shipments for the same time in 2009.

Jim Ehrlich, executive director of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, told The Produce News that San Luis Valley shippers had moved more than 3,537 loads of spuds in December 2009 compared to 3,425 loads in December 2008. Total loads through December were 11,955, up nearly 2,000 loads over the previous shipping period.

What a difference a year makes.

Last season, mango-producing regions in southern Mexico produced an early bumper crop that resulted in large supplies of the yellow-skinned Ataulfo variety mangos in the marketplace in February, with many handlers having about twice the volume as they did a year earlier for the same time period.

"This year it is going to be just the opposite," said Bill Vogel, president of Tavilla Sales Co. of Los Angeles. "February and March are going to have 50 percent of their regular volume."

A uniform communication system to help retailers pull recalled product off the shelf in quick fashion has been developed and is being utilized by a majority of the national retailers and many of the top center-of-the-store food manufacturers. As of yet, however, only a handful of produce suppliers have signed up.

WASHINGTON -- The produce industry will need to look out for a new guidance the U.S. Food & Drug Administration is planning to release soon that may change the rules for filing on-line reports under the four-month- old Reportable Food Registry.

A prolonged period of freezing weather in late December and early January damaged about 30 percent of the flower crops in the area around Bogotá, Colombia, according to Augusto Solano, president of Asocolflores, the Colombian flower growers association.

With her first-place win Jan. 23 at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, WA, 17-year-old Colorado skater Rachael Flatt secured her spot in the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC.

And she takes with her the sponsorship of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee in a one-year contract, inked just days before Ms. Flatt's powerful performance in Spokane.

According to Linda Weyers, administrator for Monte Vista, CO-based committee, the relationship with the young athlete was initiated by Ms. Flatt's representatives.