JC Produce, the West Sacramento, CA, firm that closed its doors last month, has at least $700,000 more PACA debt than it has receivables.

Within the next few months, Sun World International LLC, headquartered in Bakersfield, CA, will be "relocating all of our administrative staff and sales and marketing staff from their current locations at our packing facility north of Bakersfield to a new office building in downtown Bakersfield," David Marguleas, chief marketing officer, told The Produce News Oct. 28. Some personnel from the company's Coachella, CA, office will also be relocating to the new office facility in Bakersfield, he said.

STAATSBURG, NY -- When Greg Quinn was looking for a new crop to grow, he didn't set out to overturn a nearly century-old law.

But that was exactly what he did.

Mr. Quinn, who has both a horticultural background and a food background - he operated and was a chef in a restaurant in Bavaria - set out to find a "high-end niche crop" to grow on his 140-acre farm here in the rolling hills of Dutchess County and initially looked into ginseng, garlic and mushrooms.

ORLANDO, FL -- "Who ever has a party and has no salsa?" Jay Alley asked.

His firm, Fresherized Foods in Fort Worth, TX, has answered that marketing question by placing its own, new "Wholly Salsa" brand onto the market. The firm is best known for its "Wholly Guacamole" brand guacamole.

Mr. Alley, who is vice president of retail operations for Fresherized, said that the new salsa is the classic flavor, which is available with mild, medium or hot levels of spiciness.

ORLANDO, FL -- Relaunching its web site to coincide with the 2008 Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit, Canadian greenhouse grower OriginO is focusing on the health benefits provided by organic tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

And while the greenhouse operation -- which has an exclusive marketing agreement with The Oppenheimer Group -- touts a two-crop season and looks forward to lively holiday movement of its product, Brazilian grape grower Labrunier, a new marketing partner, adds significantly to Oppenheimer's October-December grape program.