What is your produce shrink rate? What is your dollar loss from shrink?

It's shocking that whenever I ask those questions, many people do not know the answers.

Even some upper-management executives have little or no knowledge of their shrink loss. Furthermore, there are companies operating without any type of preventative monitoring program at all.

Left unchecked, shrink can result in severe dollar losses.

A team of produce industry professionals announced April 15 the formation of a consulting group called FreshXperts, a comprehensive consortium that addresses the business development, management, marketing, distribution and retail merchandising needs of produce companies, their distributors and retailers.

A group of 65 volunteers from Stemilt Growers, headquartered in Wenatchee, WA, assembled April 18 at the waterfront of the company's Olds Station facility to give Mother Nature a helping hand.

The volunteers removed noxious weeds, non-native blackberry bushes and other debris along the property, situated along the banks of the Columbia River. Once the cleanup was accomplished, the volunteers installed biodegradable erosion-control fabric and planted 160 native species along the shoreline and at the top of the bank.

A leading integrated grower-shipper of fresh produce from Mexico is expanding its efforts to provide enhanced, value-added service to its retail and foodservice customers.

Farmer's Best, which has been in business for over 40 years, is planning marketing campaigns designed to help retailers sell more produce in a challenging economy.

The 2009 California avocado season will be hitting full stride just in time for this year's Cinco de Mayo festivities, and the California Avocado Commission has put together a creative promotion plan to encourage avocado consumption around the May 5 celebration.

Celebrity chefs, mouth-watering avocado recipes, public relations efforts and extensive on-line outreach will position California avocados top of mind for consumers.

California Giant Berry Farms has all the bases loaded going into the United Fresh convention. Cindy Jewell, director of marketing, said that conventioneers would have a chance to learn more about the "Sweet Lineup Sweepstakes," launched April 1 and running through May 31.

"The timing [of the convention] is perfect because we're coming into peak berry season," Ms. Jewell told The Produce News.