“To-Jo has recently introduced a new product: Traditional Mushroom Sautee with Butter, Salt and Pepper,” Paul Frederic, senior vice president of sales and marketing for To-Jo Fresh Mushrooms Inc., in Avondale, PA, told The Produce News. “It is a microwaveable mushroom product in retail-size packs. The new item contains seven ounces of sliced mushrooms that are ready to put directly into a microwave oven. All-natural seasonings and herbs are added to the pre-cleaned mushrooms. Users simply microwave for just under four minutes for fully prepared mushrooms in a delicious sauce.”

Sambrailo Packaging, headquartered in Salinas, CA, has developed a pint-sized clamshell that is especially compatible with the high-speed machinery used to pack small-sized tomatoes for retail display.

“We are focused on off-the-vine cherry and cocktail type tomatoes,” said Jim Scattini, vice president of sales and marketing for the firm.

Going back to its roots in Italy, J. Marchini Farms, which is headquartered in Le Grand, CA, is now marketing an heirloom plum tomato variety as a sauce tomato for both the retail and foodservice trades. The company offers the product in fresh form for about six weeks in late summer and also freezes the whole tomatoes for distribution throughout the year.

Eclipse Berry Farm is not a misnomer. The Southern California grower-shipper, with its farm in Ventura County and its sales office in Los Angeles, is primarily a strawberry operation.

“That makes up 90 or 95 percent of our business,” says Rick Hearst, longtime salesperson for the company. “But our grape tomato program is a nice little deal for us.” And it’s on the rise.

Mr. Hearst explained that fellow salesperson Stuart Gilfenbain, son of the owner, Norman Gilfenbain, “got a Florida grape tomato deal many years ago, and that got us started.”

Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce in San Diego marked its 25th anniversary Aug. 1, according to Mark Munger, vice president of marketing. “It came quietly,” he said. “We really didn’t do anything ... special” to celebrate the occasion, but it “was a nice milestone for us.”

A&W was founded in August 1986 by Fred Andrew and Fred Williamson, Mr. Munger told The Produce News Aug. 5. “Their initial vision for the company was to work with ... growers” in northern Baja California, Mexico, “to provide premium produce.”

The company has been around for about eight decades, has operated in many different areas and time zones, and has changed its name from time to time, but President Chuck Thomas of Thomas Produce Sales is content to stay put in Nogales, AZ for now.

“My grandfather started the company in North Carolina in the 1930s, and we worked tomato deals all over the country, including North Carolina, Florida, Michigan, Mexico. I used to go from deal to deal,” he said.