ORLANDO, FL -- CHEP announced Dec. 22 the signing of a multi-year contract with Del Monte Fresh Produce Co., a subsidiary of Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., for pallet pooling services in support of the company's banana and melon divisions.

The Canadian Produce Marketing Association will help promote the Canadian produce industry to the world by organizing the first Canadian pavilion at the 2010 Fruit Logistica trade show, the largest show in the produce industry, Feb. 3-5 in Berlin.

WASHINGTON -- The United Fresh Research & Education Foundation will present a one-day post-show conference on produce sustainability April 23 at the Palazzo Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The conference will immediately follow United 2010, the organization's conference and trade show, scheduled for April 19-23, also in Las Vegas.

SANTIAGO, CHILE -- Since the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved Navel orange imports from Chile last year, that country's ample crop has helped to increase imports of all oranges by the United States 35 percent this season to date, according to USDA Market News in early November.

Future shipments of Navels from Chile are expected to account for 25 percent of orange imports by the United States. Other countries that help make up the remainder of the import volume are Australia, South Africa, Spain, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

PHILADELPHIA -- In the specialty produce business, certain exotic commodities -- figurative bricks in the road to success -- sometimes may not be huge-volume sellers. They may be so expensive that the distributor is unable to convert them to large-profit items. But such items give customers - - and customers' customers -- a big reason to keep buying from the supplier, according to John Vena.

Orlando, FL-based Intelligent Global Pooling Systems announced Dec. 8 that Dole Fresh Fruit, a subsidiary of Dole Food Co., will begin utilizing iGPS's all- plastic pallets with embedded radio-frequency identification tags in the shipping of some of its products within North America this month.