"We will be introducing our new retail line of packaged gourmet veggies at the upcoming PMA Fresh Summit," said Ande Manos, sales and marketing director for Babe' Farms headquartered in Santa Maria, CA. "It includes 16-ounce and 14-ounce packages of gourmet vegetables, such as topped and trimmed mini root vegetables, mixed color baby beets, gourmet radishes, rainbow carrots, baby purple and green brussels sprouts, baby purple artichokes and baby fennel."

Babe' Farms will be exhibiting at booth No. 1957 at the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit. Ms. Manos said that besides herself, Judy Lundberg, chief executive officer and president; her son, Jeff Lundberg, who is vice president of operations and production; Chris Cordero, vice president of sales; and the sales team of Rocio Munoz, Loren Hiltner, Rosa Cerda and Ramona Chavez will be at the expo to greet attendees.

"In addition to our new retail items we will have an elaborate display of all of our specialty vegetables," said Ms. Manos.

"Babe' Farms and Gold Coast Packing have joined forces to build a new processing and shipping facility in Santa Maria," she continued. "Fresh Venture Foods is set to open this November, and is equipped for receiving, cooling, cleaning, sorting and packaging the value-added products of its co-owners, Babe' Farms and Gold Coast Packing. Both companies will maintain their separate identities, handling their sales individually as well as maintaining separate marketing personnel."

Babe' Farms was founded in 1986 by Will Souza and four partners. With deep roots in the Santa Maria Valley, Mr. Souza was a well-established, third-generation farmer of conventional vegetables. Inspired by his extensive travels throughout Europe, where he discovered the availability and popularity of baby-sized fresh produce, a new company, Babe' Farms was born.

Today, after more than 20 years in operation, Babe' Farms continues to be a family style farming operation, owned and operated by one of the original partners, Judy Lundberg and her son Jeff.

Babe' Farms' creative packs of specialty vegetables, signature salad blends and baby head lettuces have been designed to fit the needs of the most discerning chefs and retailers. All of the company's specialty products are hand-harvested to order daily.

The company's mission continues to be to provide outstanding specialty vegetables and service, viewed as the benchmark of quality and type for both the retail and foodservice trades.