With the San Joaquin Valley grape season just a few months away, the Vancouver, BC-based Oppenheimer Group has strengthened its link with one of the region's top growers.

Oppenheimer will market a full range of grape varieties produced by Garcia Family Farms Inc. in Arvin, CA, starting in mid-June, according to Josh Leichter, Oppenheimer's grape category director.

The Vancouver, BC-based Oppenheimer Group announced that Simone Naggiar has joined the company as a business development representative serving retail, wholesale and foodservice clients in western Canada.

Ms. Naggiar, who joined the company in late January, is responsible for implementing effective promotions for Oppenheimer products in partnership with customers in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Yukon and Northwest Territories.

The California Department of Food & Agriculture announced the results of the continuation referendum for the California Pistachio Commission and confirmed that California pistachio producers did not achieve the required threshold vote to continue the commission.

At least one day a week, Brandon Gritters, a produce salesman at Interfresh in Fullerton, CA, takes the train to work specifically so he can ride his bike 25 miles back home.

When one is trying to combine 20 hours of bike riding a week with a full-time job of selling produce, creativity is key. "I ride pretty much every afternoon when I get home until the evening," he said. "I like it when the days start getting longer so I don't have to ride in the dark."

TAMPA, FL -- As the trend toward organic produce continues to grow, produce suppliers and retailers are well served to gain a better understanding about what drives consumer decisions to buy organic produce. A panel discussion held here Feb. 24 during the Southeast Produce Council conference set out to examine some of the buying habits of organic consumers.

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's farm bill proposal that would pump a wide array of expanded marketing and research funds into specialty crops got its first airing at a Feb. 28 hearing before a U.S. House Agriculture subcommittee.

At the hearing, members of Congress raised concerns plaguing their districts' specialty crop growers, from needing help in combating foreign crop pests to the potentially high cost of lifting planting restrictions to comply with World Trade Organization rules.