SALINAS, CA -- Bruce Knobeloch and Robert V. Jenkins have announced the formation of a new company, Knobeloch Jenkins Associates LLC.

This new business is focused on "providing business solutions to the fresh produce and perishables industries," according to a company press release, targeted toward supporting business owners, investors, creditors, boards of directors, executive management and project management teams.

Whether it's baseball or produce, Rob Palmeri has his head in the game.

Mr. Palmeri, 41, a self-described baseball fanatic, is the produce and floral market manager for Giant Foods LLC, the Carlisle, PA-based supermarket chain. He has been working full time in retail produce since he was 20 years old.

NAPLES, FL -- Naturipe Farms has announced an expanded role for Robert Verloop as the new senior vice president of sales and marketing.

Effective immediately, the former vice president of marketing will step into the new role with an eye on long-term strategic sales and marketing developments. His responsibilities at Naturipe Farms will continue to include all marketing programs, consumer research, sales promotions communications, advertising and public relations as well as government relations.

WASHINGTON -- In his weekly address Saturday, March 14, President Obama announced the appointments of Margaret Hamburg as commissioner of the Food & Drug Administration and Joshua Sharfstein as the principal deputy commissioner, as well as the creation of a new Food Safety Working Group.

Cherie Watte Angulo, executive director of the California Asparagus Commission in Stockton, CA, said that March through May "should be the highest-quality [asparagus] product available."

There's no time better than the present to consume California asparagus, Ms. Angulo said. California asparagus is one of the "few featured commodities" on store shelves in its relatively narrow time window.

Mike Klackle, a well-known figure in the blueberry industry, has joined the sales force at Townsend Farms, where he will be involved with fresh berry sales.

"I am 56 years young and feel like a kid in a candy store," he told The Produce News in early March.

Townsend Farms, located in Fairview, OR, which handles a full berry manifest, is the state's largest grower and processor of red raspberries and strawberries.