Zespri International issued a press release March 17 stating that the company was looking forward to another strong kiwifruit season in 2011. Sally Gardiner, Zespri's general manager of its supply chain, placed global export volume at 100 million trays. "Growing conditions have been fantastic, with more rainfall and higher temperatures on average compared to last season, and we are expecting a great crop as a result," she noted in the statement.

Georgia commodities like onions, blueberries, peaches and watermelons will take to the skies this summer. No, it is not an invasion of flying fruits and vegetables - instead it is a promotional pairing with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines.

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. in Jacksonville, FL, has not had much good news to report in recent years. But now the company has embarked on an ambitious new re-branding plan that the company calls a “transformational remodel.”

The store at 2220 County Road 210 near Jacksonville in northern St. Johns County is the first in Florida to

With diesel fuel rates hitting $4.50 per gallon, and no let-up in sight, West Coast shippers are bracing for what could be the highest transportation rates they have ever seen.

“Everyone is concerned about it,” said Jim Bogart, president of the Salinas, CA-based Grower-Shipper Association. “But there is not much we can do about it.”

The Produce Marketing Association announced May 9 that public relations veteran GLENN BOYET joined its staff as senior director of public relations.

Business is good at Sy Katz Produce Inc. in Boone, NC - so good that the company increased its north Florida plantings by 15 percent and its south Georgia holdings by a like number, according to President Owen Margolis.

There has been a strong increase in demand for the Katz's variety peppers, and a high market along with increased plantings means Katz will be able to cash in on that demand.