GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ -- The green-hulled refrigerated ship Green Freezer docked Nov. 1 at the Gloucester Terminals LLC on the Delaware River waterfront, here. Under sunny and cool skies the next morning, stevedores unloaded the ship's cargo: the season's first Spanish clementines for the United States.

Calavo Growers Inc. has entered into an agreement with the Maui Land & Pineapple Co. to market and sell the firm's proprietary Maui Gold pineapple throughout the continental United States and Canada.

The agreement is effective on Dec. 1, but the firm will not officially close its Maui Pineapple Co. office in Northern California until Dec. 31, according to Gerry Watts, vice president and general manager. At that point, the Northern California sales and marketing team, including Sales Manager Howard Nager, will be let go.

In a sharply worded missive to its members, Western Growers Association condemned the actions of Publix Super Markets and a consortium of produce buyers that are seeking to impose their own set of food-safety standards on suppliers.

Other organizations, including the Produce Marketing Association, expressed concern that the food-safety issue was being handled in such a manner.

PHILADELPHIA -- The new rules on the handling of methyl bromide for fruit fumigation and their potential impact on the distribution of imported fruit was one of the topics discussed at the annual preseason Chilean fruit meeting held here Oct. 26.

United Kingdom-based Tesco PLC was scheduled to open the doors of its first six U.S. stores, located in the Los Angeles area and flying the "Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market" store banner.

Tesco was slated to begin operations Nov. 8 in those six stores, followed by openings later in the month and before the first of the year in both Arizona and Nevada. By early next year, the chain is expected to open about 50 convenience-style hybrids in the Southern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas areas.

"Florida Tomato Growers Exchange members united since last spring against penny-per-pound deals, and they reaffirmed it at our annual meeting in the fall," said Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the organization. "We are currently starting our season and we do not want there to be any misunderstanding in this issue. We want it known that we continue our firm conviction."