SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- The wholesale produce markets are broken and they need to be fixed, according to Pete Carcione, president of Carcione's Fresh Produce Co. Inc. as well as president of Golden Gate Produce Terminal in South San Francisco.

The markets will continue to attract buyers in large part because they can cut and taste the produce there before buying it. Mr. Carcione just wants them to do it at a later hour.

Chefs and foodservice leaders from America's top chain restaurants, hotels, supermarkets and key members of the produce industry joined forces to develop options for making fruits and vegetables more available to the growing number of consumers who rely on away-from-home purchases for meals and snacks.

Produce First! American Menus Initiative, an innovative collaboration between Produce for Better Health Foundation and the Culinary Institute of America was held Jan. 15 at the CIA at Greystone in Napa Valley, CA.

Humberto (Beto) Moreno, 29, who was previously with the Nogales, AZ, office of Hammonton, NJ-based Frank Donio Inc., has started his own company, Arizona Mixers & Fresh Produce LLC, in Nogales, in partnership with a brother, Mauro Moreno, 33, and Charles Slack, 40.

Mr. Moreno told The Produce News in a telephone interview Jan. 13 that he opened the new company Dec. 31, and will specialize in distributing and brokering tomatoes and Mexican vegetables, primarily to customers on the East Coast.

Supervalu, CVS and an investment group led by Cerberus Capital Management L.P., including Kimco Realty, Schottenstein Stores Corp., Lubert-Adler Partners and Klaff Realty, announced Jan. 23 that they have reached definitive agreements to acquire Albertson's Inc. for $17.4 billion in cash, stock and debt assumption.

"We are in a control and suppress mode," Liz Compton, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, said in response to the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture announcement that the canker eradication program is no longer effective, and that it will not continue to fund tree removal that is done with eradication as its goal.

Ms. Compton added, "We have spent the past several years working to get rid of canker in the state through this program, and it is very frustrating to now have to give it up."

Sunkist Growers announced that Jeff Gargiulo has decided not to renew his contract and will leave the company in June after five years as president and chief executive officer. This will conclude a second stint of an initial three-year contract.

Mr. Gargiulo assumed the leadership post at Sunkist when he joined the company in June 2001. During his tenure he spearheaded the reorganization of several of the Sunkist divisions while turning the focus of the organization toward leveraging the "Sunkist" brand.