WASHINGTON -- There may be plenty of training programs for promising young leaders in the produce industry, but the United Fresh Produce Association saw a need for mid-level and senior executives to stay ahead of the fast-moving industry.

United Fresh said that it had been working on developing a one-of-a-kind training program for a year and decided to partner with Cornell University's Food Industry Management program to help grower and shipper executives move to the next step.

Citing a drop in production volume and depressed pricing, Del Monte Fresh Produce Inc., based in Coral Gables, FL, ended its century-old pineapple operations on the Hawaiian island of Oahu Nov. 17 -- two years earlier than planned.

In a statement released Nov. 17, Del Monte said, "The extreme drop in production volume, coupled with depressed pineapple pricing resulting from the increase of supply in the overall pineapple market, has had a negative financial impact on the company."

WASHINGTON -- The Food & Drug Administration is now investigating two tomato-related outbreaks, with the latest blamed for nearly 100 illnesses in 19 states.

"It's been a busy year," Dave Daigle, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, said when referring to the earlier tomato outbreak and the California spinach investigation.

Redner's Markets Inc., an employee-owned company based in Reading, PA, that currently operates 40 Warehouse Markets and 12 Quick Shoppes throughout eastern Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland, announced the promotion of Gary M. O'Brien to vice president of retail perishable operations and Richard J. Stiles to director of produce operations. Both changes take immediate effect within Warehouse Markets operations.

Early indications are that volumes were down for the Idaho-Eastern Oregon onion region, but recent numbers provided by the Idaho-Oregon Fruit & Vegetable Association show that even those initial findings were higher than what is actually in storage.

Candi Fitch, executive director of the association, said that a Nov. 1 storage survey "puts numbers to the talk that the Idaho-Eastern Oregon onion crop is down considerably."

Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) and Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) hosted a "Spinach Is Back" congressional luncheon Nov. 16 in Washington, DC, with a number of administration and public health officials to raise awareness that fresh, safe spinach has returned to store shelves and is an important part of a healthy diet.