CASTROVILLE, CA -- Ocean Mist Farms is leveraging the location of its ranches along the Highway 1 corridor in Northern California to generate consumer awareness for the company by installing four, 12-foot-high color signs to face both northbound and southbound traffic.

The four signs, installed the beginning of June, feature a color picture of Hugo Tottino, one of the company's grower-owners.

Bob Moore, chairman and chief executive officer of Intelligent Global Pooling Systems, based in Orlando, FL, was named by Ernst & Young as Florida's Entrepreneur of the Year in the Emerging industries category.

The New Jersey blueberry deal is off to an early start thanks to favorable weather, according to officials at Sunny Valley International Inc.

"Crews started picking a few organic blueberries today at Big Buck Farms in Hammonton, New Jersey," Phil Neary director of operations and grower relations for Sunny Valley International Inc., headquartered in Glassboro, NJ, told The Produce News June 2.

The chairman of a committee developing voluntary national standards for sustainable agriculture, including flowers and potted plants, told The Produce News June 10 that he would resign in frustration when the 58-member committee meets Monday, June 14, because a for-profit firm continues to hold copyright on standards developed by the committee.

TRENTON, NJ — A severe winter, record snowfall, a normal, wet spring and slightly higher temperatures have blueberry growers throughout New Jersey seeing the blues — as in blueberries.

Some growers were expecting to begin picking the Duke variety as early as the weekend of June 5-6. Others said that the season is four to five days earlier than last year, and are advising retailers that there will be plenty of volume in time for the Fourth of July holiday.

The first Ohio Food Summit will be held June 23. Heading the summit is Lori Panda, the Ohio Proud liaison in the division of markets of the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

On June 2, Ms. Panda told The Produce News that the summit involves a meeting in Columbus that will bring retail, restaurant and distributor buyers to meet with Ohio suppliers. The suppliers will have tabletop product displays and prescheduled one-on-one meetings with buyers.