With the Argentine garlic harvest completed, and the arrival of the new crops from California and China still a couple of months away, the strong garlic market that currently exists should persist well into summer, according to several U.S. marketers of the product.

"It's a little too soon to tell how the California and China harvests are going to end up," said Louis Hymel, director of purchasing and marketing for Spice World Inc. in Orlando, FL. "But we should have a strong market at least through June."

Demand among foodservice operators for locally grown produce is on the rise, but so are questions about how to ensure its safety. To that end, Pro*Act, one of America's leading distributors of fresh produce to the foodservice industry, has published two new guidance documents to increase understanding and use of proper food-safety standards and procedures in this burgeoning business.

The two Pro*Act documents are Food Safety Requirements for Suppliers of Locally Grown Produce and Food Safety Questionnaire for Locally Grown Produce.

Peirone Produce Co., headquartered in Spokane, WA, has expanded its storage capabilities with the opening of its new 77,000-square-foot, state- of-the-art warehouse facility.

The company, created by Joe Peirone in 1945, has been a wholly owned subsidiary of URM Stores Inc. since 1986. The new facility nearly triples available warehouse space.

Technomic, a recognized and experienced food industry consulting and research firm in Chicago, released its Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report March 25, providing the company's exclusive five-year sales forecast by menu category; update on franchise and international activity; five-, 10- and 20- year trend analyses; outlook for the future; and market share by menu category.

While the report indicated that the 500 largest U.S. restaurant chains registered an overall decline in annual sales of 0.8 percent in 2009, there were also some impressive bright spots.

LAS VEGAS, NV -- Sustainability means different things to different people, but for growers, marketers and others in the fresh produce industry, what major buyers and public policy advocates mean by sustainability may well take precedent in an individual company's operations over what that company might, internally, consider to be sustainable practices.

On Friday, April 23, the final day of the United Fresh 2010 convention, here, the entire day was devoted to the Global Conference on Produce Sustainability.

WASHINGTON -- Produce businesses may be pushed to the front lines in a polarizing battle over a controversial Arizona immigration law.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer approved a new law April 23 that requires police to check the immigration status of individuals they "reasonably suspect" may be in the country illegally. Immigrants unable to produce documents showing they are allowed to be in the United States can be arrested, jailed and fined, and those found to be in the country illegally may be turned over to federal immigration officials.