Greater merchandising flexibility and more efficiency at retail are the two key reasons that retailers will continue to favor random- weight bags as their cherry package of choice, according to marketers with Wenatchee, WA-based Stemilt Growers.

Stemilt Marketing Director Roger Pepperl said that bagged cherries continue to dominate the retailing landscape, and new styles of bags are giving retailers choices and making bags even more attractive.

The National Weather Service is predicting a "mega heat wave" to hit northern California, the central coast, southern California and the southwest deserts starting Thursday, June 22 and last well into next week.

The uniqueness of this heat wave is the combination of its intensity and longevity. Many temperature records will be threatened and broken. Forecasted temperatures into mid next week include Salinas at 90 degrees locally to 105 in south county; Bakersfield at 103-106; Blythe at 110-113 and Coachella upwards of 118.

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ -- The South African citrus import season is officially underway, as evidenced by the bright red refrigerated bulk cargo ship Indian Reefer disgorging pallets of South African citrus on June 8, here, at the Gloucester City Marine Terminal.

Colorful Fiesole artichokes are being packaged and marketed exclusively by Legacy Farms, a Buena Park, CA-based grower, packer and distributor. It is the first value-added produce item to carry the "Legacy" brand.

The Fiesole variety, featuring a dark purple color, originated in the European growing areas of Provence in France, and Tuscany and Veneto in Italy, and is now grown along the central coast of California.

Consolidation, branding, consistency, consumer-friendly packaging and globalization - Market Fresh Produce LLC, based in the Kansas City suburb of Lee's Summit, MO, is integrating all these benefits for sweet onion buyers.

Steve Phipps, principal owner and director of sales and marketing for Market Fresh Produce, said, "Our focus on this onion program is to come to market with a consistent trade brand of sweet onions to where the retailer could embrace the packaging."

The move toward full adoption of radio frequency identification technology has encountered many hurdles along the way. But some seem just a bit too high to clear, especially for the produce industry.

Probably the biggest hurdle is that radio frequency signals have trouble penetrating liquid. In technology-speak, cartons of fresh produce present a "harsh environment" that result in RFID readings that are less accurate than are typically recorded when RFID chips are used on hard goods or non-liquid grocery items, such as soap or cereal.