The 2021 Northwest cherry season is just around the corner and Chelan Fresh is looking forward to getting started selling what looks to be a very good crop of cherries. “We’re going to have promotable volume as the overall weather has been good. We are looking at a quality crop of good-sized fruit,” said Mac Riggan, director of marketing with Chelan Fresh.

Stephen M. Creed has been appointed to the new position of vice president of distribution and logistics. Creed is responsible for leading Big Y’s distribution teams at its newly expanded 430,000-square-foot Fresh & Local Distribution Center in Springfield, MA. In addition, he will serve as an advisor to the board of directors. He reports to Michael P.

The U.S. Apple Association board of directors gave an enthusiastic go-ahead to hold the organization’s annual conference in-person this summer. The 126th annual Crop & Outlook Marketing Conference will take place Aug. 19-20 in Chicago. The two-day meeting will showcase diverse speakers and topics, growers and apple business leaders from across the nation, and the always anticipated crop forecast.

Divine Flavor has started receiving its first shipments of grapes, officially kicking off its Sonoran grape program for 2021. This season the company anticipates packing more than 5 million boxes out of northern Mexico, which is about a 25 percent increase from last year

Leading the way is Carlos Bon, Divine Flavor’s vice president of sales, who is preparing the company for its biggest commercial volume season since the company was established in 2006.

Legend Produce, a leading grower and marketer of melons, hired Marc Beoshanz as the newest farming operations manager.

This summer, with plans to host the expo in Los Angeles, the state’s limitations on larger indoor gatherings has forced United Fresh to, once again, reimagine a new solution for connecting the produce supply chain.