Florida Citrus Mutual, headquartered in Lakeland, FL, organized and hosted the second International Citrus Canker & Greening Research Workshop Nov. 7-11 in Orlando, FL. The meeting assembled international researchers who have specific expertise on canker and greening to discuss the current status of knowledge and to extract information relative to the ongoing situation in Florida.

Naples, FL-based Global Berry Farms LLC has reached an agreement through its Naturipe Berry Growers arm to market strawberries grown by Watsonville, CA-based Pacific Gold Farms.

Pacific Gold's strawberries will be marketed under Global's "Naturipe" label. Pacific Gold Farms will continue to grow berries but will no longer market them itself.

Do these statements sound familiar to you?

CEO: "We're going to give our customers the best products all of the time at the lowest prices along with superior service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Blah, blah, blah ..."

Division vice president: "This new corporate produce program is one of the best ever and supervision will get behind it all the way. We'll support any extra labor it needs to make it work. I'm not just saying this because company officers are here at our meeting. Blah, blah, blah ..."

Sun World International LLC in Bakersfield, CA, and the Plant Board of Israel in Tel Aviv reached a definitive agreement Nov. 21 relative to the licensed production and marketing of Suplumeleven and Suplumtwelve variety plums in Israel.

The agreement was announced by the plant board manager, Gadi Horvitz, and Sun World Senior Vice President David Marguleas.

Rosenthal & Klein Inc., a fixture at New York's Hunts Point Terminal Market in the Bronx, NY, for nearly 30 years, has ceased operations and filed for reorganization in federal bankruptcy court under Chapter 11.

Minneapolis-based Wholesale Produce Supply announced that it has opened an affiliated sales office in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

"With the opening of this sales office, we are demonstrating our commitment to better serve our customers in Canada," said Brian Hauge, president of Wholesale Produce. "Our future goals are to further expand our business in Canada, which will enable us to provide even greater customer service. We are very excited and optimistic to commence this new connection, and we believe we will continue to develop and increase our business in Canada."