For Duncan Marriott, a rising star at Family Tree Farms in Reedley, CA, the decision to make the produce industry his career was an easy one.

?I was born into it " I didn?t have a choice," the 28-year-old commodity broker said with a laugh. "And don?t get me wrong " I love it."

Mr. Marriott can trace his produce roots back well over 100 years, and his personal family tree branches into many areas of the business.

Ethnic marketing has been a popular concept in the produce industry for the past few years, but purveyors of this niche marketing are usually talking about the growing Hispanic or Asian communities.

While African-Americans have long since assimilated into the U.S. melting pot, as a group they do have some specific buying habits that do allow for niche marketing " though reaching that segment offers its own challenges.

?We look to Italians, including those in Sicily, to teach us in the U.S. about food," Paul McGowan, director of preclearance programs at USDA, APHIS, plant protection and quarantine division, said in his address and presentation on U.S. import protocol to Sicilian and American dignitaries and citrus industry professionals in Catania, Italy, in early January. "The Italians, as well as the French, are considered the world?s experts on food, and their cultures have our highest respect."

On a voluntary basis with dried and processed figs, the California fresh fig industry currently participates in the activities of the California Fig Advisory Board. However, according to Richard Matoian, manager of the board, that could change soon.

?There is a potential that we are going to be voting on a [fresh] fig marketing order here in the next few months," he said. If that comes about, "it is likely the Fig Advisory Board is going to be the umbrella organization representing both the fresh and the dried marketing orders."

Garlic producer Christopher Ranch LLC in Gilroy, CA, has hired Mike Mantelli as its general operations manager to oversee and analyze company operations from the ground up.

?I?ll be working on strategies to advance Christopher Ranch?s position in the produce industry," said Mr. Mantelli.

With more than 1.5 million cases of under-glass peppers produced by the Divemex group of Mexican greenhouse growers, The Oppenheimer Group is seeing its strongest winter program to date, according to Mike Reed, category director.

Mr. Reed said that Divemex?s early winter production in its southern growing areas "has allowed us to offer customers a seamless supply of bell peppers when Canadian production dropped off in late October."