DETROIT — Devoting more attention to foodservice business in recent years, Rocky Produce Inc. on the Detroit Produce Terminal, here, is seeing its efforts pay off as that segment of its business grows.

DETROIT — An expansion at its off-market facility and a new deal with Farmer's Best International LLC have resulted in some additions to the product offerings at Aunt Mids Produce Co., here on the Detroit Produce Terminal.

"We are now handling the 'Farmers Best’ line of Mexican vegetables," Dominic Riggio, president of Aunt Mids, told The Produce News. The deal began in November and involves items such as squashes, peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. “Our businesses are both very quality-oriented, and it seemed like a natural fit.”

This winter and spring, the russet potato market "will continue to climb because of a lack of potatoes out there," according to Tom Lundgren. The president of Spud City Sales LLC in Stevens Point, WI, hopes the national industry's conservative potato acreages “will continue the trend this fall.” This will happen “if people don’t go too crazy on planting. It has been the same thing since I started 25 years ago. It’s all in supply and demand.”

CENTER, CO -- Anticipating a 25-percent hike in production costs, Jed Ellithorpe, farm and operations manager of Ponderosa Partnership, sister company and grower for Aspen Produce potato distributor, told The Produce News that the operation is maintaining a focus on "good domestic business."

Mr. Ellithorpe said in late December that Aspen Produce "is starting to see more regional sales in the Rocky Mountain area and the Southwest," and he added that shipping costs are a primary factor in that uptick.

A new PrimusLabs Global Certification is proving very beneficial for sales at New Limeco LLC, according to Eddie Caram, the general manager of the Princeton, FL, firm.

"This has opened doors to what consumers and the chainstore buyers want," Mr. Caram told The Produce News Jan. 11.

In December, the firm's distribution facility and Florida avocado fields were certified with a 97 percent approval rating.

He added, “People we are partnering with in Guatemala and Belize are also into food safety traceability since it became a big concern for us.”

Red River Valley growers are, from a marketing perspective, well positioned entering the heart of their red potato storage shipping season.

While experiences vary on early-season shipping demand, much of the crop has been moved early -- and a very manageable portion of an average- volume crop.

NoKota Packers Inc., based in Buxton, ND, had strong early movement and is ahead of its five-year average in shipping its red storage potatoes, according to company President Steve Tweten. "We are doing real well" in moving the 2010 crop. The firm will ship into April or May.