OAKLAND, CA  An impromptu outpouring of generosity resulted in nearly $10,000 being raised for hurricane victims at the Northern California luncheon meeting of the Fresh Produce & Floral Council held Sept. 13, here, at the Oakland Airport Hilton.

FPFC Chair-elect Jack Gyben of Progressive Marketing Group in Los Angeles told The Produce News that Dick Spezzano of Spezzano Consulting and a member of the FPFC executive committee got the ball rolling with a challenge donation.

Frontera Produce, based in Edinburg, TX, announced the launch of a new melon import program into the port of Corpus Christi, to begin operations in November.

Frontera will be importing cantaloupe and honeydew from Guatemala and other Latin American sources, contracting 2,400 tons per week for the duration of the season running November to May. The product will be shipped to retailers and wholesalers throughout the United States.

Daniel (Danny) Carosliva, who was previously a salesman with Tricar Sales Inc. in Nogales, AZ, is now on the sales desk at Sandia Distributors Inc., also in Nogales.

"Danny has been with us for about three weeks now," Sales Manager Bill Spence said on Wednesday, Sept. 14. We have increased our product line over here, and we felt we needed [additional] help in sales.

NEWARK, NY  U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), a longtime friend of the state's apple industry, picked the official first apple of the 2005 New York harvest Sept. 6 at The Apple Shed orchard, here, launching a harvest season expected to yield more than 25 million bushels.

WILLCOX, AZ  Eurofresh Inc., a leading year-round grower-shipper of tomatoes on-the vine and other greenhouse-grown tomatoes, has introduced a consumer guarantee program for its packaged varieties of "Eurofresh Farms" branded product.

A seal indicating Guaranteed Fresh Flavor coupled with the statement Eurofresh promises garden-fresh flavor in every tomato, is now included on every package label for campari, roma, and cherry tomatoes on-the-vine.

Fresh Gourmet, a leading supplier of retail croutons merchandised in produce departments, announced a fresh new look for its packaging. The new bags feature dynamic and energized photography, reflecting the tastes of today's consumer, along with bold traffic-stopping graphics to maximize point-of-sale positioning.