FRESNO, CA -- The harvest of the 2009 California fresh fig crop was already underway when The Produce News talked to Karla Stockli, chief executive officer of the California Fig Advisory Board and the California Fresh fig Growers Association, here, on Friday, May 15.

The association expects fresh fig shipments for the state to total between 9.5 million and 10.5 million pounds for 2009, similar to or perhaps slightly below last year's shipments of 10.4 million pounds.

OVIEDO, FL -- As the California Navel orange season draws to a close early this year with lighter-than-expected volumes, Duda Farm Fresh Foods will offer Chilean Navel oranges to customers from coast to coast beginning June 15.

SALINAS, CA -- Buying locally grown produce is a long-standing practice at Star Market in Salinas, CA.

Star Market is a mid-sized, independent, family-owned grocery store. The single-entity store is uniquely positioned in the heart of the "Salad Bowl of the World" and has long been a favorite outlet for products from growers in California in the tri-county area of Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz.

Brooks Tropicals, the largest producer of Florida avocados, has begun picking fruit and said that there will be ample promotional opportunities once the peak shipping season begins later this summer.

L&M Cos. Inc., based in Raleigh, NC, is recalling one lot of whole cantaloupes because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. No illnesses have been reported to date, and the company said that it is working with the Food & Drug Aministration to inform consumers of this recall.

The whole cantaloupes were sold between May 10 and May 15 in Walmart Supercenter Stores in North Carolina and South Carolina, and in a Walmart Supercenter Store in South Hill, VA.

Minneapolis-based Target Corp. has announced that it will expand its fresh foods offerings, including produce, in about 100 of its 1,700 stores by the end of this calendar year.

Target spokesperson Jill Hornbacher said that in 2008, the giant retailer test- marketed the expanded grocery concept in two stores near its Minnesota headquarters. The test proved successful enough to expand it to include eight other stores in various geographic locations.