It was a very difficult time for the produce industry when the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, caused a disruption in the marketplace.

Cold weather has continued to delay the Peruvian asparagus crop, but volume “will start to increase dramatically over the next 10 days,” according to Fabian Sojos, imports manager for Boca Raton, FL-based Rosemont Farms, a C.H. Robinson company.

Recently released estimates indicate that the 2011 cranberry harvest will slightly exceed the 2010 volume, placing it among the largest cranberry crop years.

“The estimated U.S. cranberry crop production for 2011 is 7,363,000 barrels,” Tobias Stapleton, marketing director for the Cranberry Marketing Committee in Wareham, MA, told The Produce News. “The estimate was issued by the CMC at the end of August.”

During a one-week period in April of this year, Californians purchased 1.6 percent fewer pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables from supermarkets but paid 2.3 percent more dollars for it.

This was just one of the jewels excavated from a newly released market report conducted by the Fresh Produce & Floral Council.