The U.S. Apple Association named the newest members of its leadership development program, the NextGen Apple Fellowship. Seven fellows from across the country have been selected to participate in the 2024 class.

The new members are Amanda VanBergen of Riveridge Produce Marketing Inc., Austin Benson of Chelan Fresh, Brannon Frankel of AgriMACS Inc., Joseph Strippoli of Geig's Orchard, Madison Schaefer of Storage Control Systems Inc., Max Farrell of Seso Labor and Shelby Miller of Applewood Fresh.

Charter Next Generation will feature Solar Shrink, a certified recyclable mulch film that is up to 50 percent lighter and four to six times stronger than traditional products, at the National Watermelon Association convention Feb. 21-24 at the We-Ko-Pa Resort and Conference Center in Scottsdale, AZ.

Fareway Stores Inc. CEO Reynolds Cramer recently announced three officer group promotions: Bret Wiltse, executive vice president of merchandising; Rick Beckwith II, vice president and supervisor; and Stephen Morgan, vice president of IT.

“These officers are important members of our team, having been instrumental in supporting and executing Fareway’s strategy," said Cramer. They contribute greatly to our core and expanding operations, and will be important to our continued success.”

Upside, a digital marketplace dedicated to empowering individuals and businesses financially, announced its partnership with nearly 80 independently owned Shop ‘n Save locations in western Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.

Hippo Harvest, a controlled environment agriculture startup developing advanced greenhouse systems that produce sustainably grown produce, announced the close of its $21 million Series B funding round. The funding will be used to scale the company's greenhouse operations and to expand its product offerings into new categories of leafy greens.

The upcoming kiwifruit season has the potential to be a year of strong growth across all kiwifruit offerings this year, with Zespri expecting to ship around 193 million trays of kiwifruit to markets around the world.

While still early in the season, Zespri’s latest supply estimate reflects the positive growing conditions seen across New Zealand in recent months. This season’s crop will be a significant increase on the 133 million New Zealand trays shipped last season and alsoup on the 175 million trays shipped in 2021.