When it comes to the annual Vidalia, GA, sweet onion crop, Mother Nature is usually in the driver's seat. This year, though, she is riding shotgun while a large, green ogre steers the truck.

The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas╒ Executive Search Committee has announced that it has concluded its search and has hired Lance Jungmeyer as its next president.

He will start May 10 and will be introduced May 11 at the association's annual membership meeting.

"We couldn't have found a better person to join our team," FPAA Chairman Chris Ciruli said on the association's web site. "Lance's experience in the produce industry is going to be an important asset for the FPAA. He is the right person for the direction the association is heading."

Joseph Azzolina, president of Food Circus Supermarkets, a 10-store chain in the Monmouth County, NJ, area, died Thursday, April 15, at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York. He was 84 years old. The Middletown, NJ, resident had battled cancer for a number of years.

Born Jan. 26, 1926, in Newark, NJ, Mr. Azzolina served in the New Jersey Senate and New Jersey Assembly from 1965 to 2006. He was a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, serving in the U.S. Navy for more than 40 years, retiring with the rank of captain, according to published reports.

In a letter to its vendor-suppliers in mid-April, Ahold USA announced a restructuring of its merchandising and marketing team that will affect its produce buying operations at Stop & Shop and Giant.

"At this point, they have only announced the upper management team, so everyone else is on pins and needles," revealed one of those suppliers who requested anonymity and who received the letter and has had conversations with members of the retailer's produce operations.

LAS VEGAS, NV -- An increased number of educational programs, a night of industry luminaries and a groundbreaking webcast from the trade show floor sent United Fresh 2010 out with a bang Friday, April 23.

With educational and development programs focused on each of the association's four market segment boards, the United Fresh Produce Association's annual convention and expo offered attendees more opportunities for business development.

A produce industry program is underway to help rebuild schools damaged in the devastating earthquake that struck the principal Chilean fruit growing regions Feb. 27.

The board of the Chilean Exporters Association, based in Santiago, Chile, announced April 16 that it had selected two agricultural schools that sustained substantial damage for the initial repair effort. The institutions are the Escuela Agrícola Cristo Obrero in Graneros, which is south of Santiago, and Escuela Agrícola San Vicente de Paul, located in Chile's Coltauco area.