Despite a triple whammy of drought, high temperatures and a freeze last February that will no doubt lead to a slight decrease in the overall crop, Lone Star Citrus Growers in Mission, TX, expects to have plenty of high-quality fruit coming out of its groves this season.

The Edinburg Citrus Association in Edinburg, TX, is growing again, planting new grapefruit and orange acreage and adding to its staff as it makes ready to celebrate its 80th anniversary this season.

The new acreage adds to the several thousand the association already tends, but the new groves will not bear literal fruit for three-to-five years. The new staff, however, will start yielding dividends right away.

Elias Hernandez recently came aboard as grove care manager, after being part of the staff at the Texas A&M University Kingsville Citrus Center.

Marion Tabard, director of marketing for Turbana Corp. in Coral Gables, FL, said that banana growers in Colombia’s Turbo region are recovering from the effects of flooding earlier this year and moving into a period of exceptional banana production.

Pete Carcione, president of Carcione’s Fresh Produce Co. Inc., encourages customers to visit the company at the Golden Gate Produce Terminal in South San Francisco, CA to feast upon Mother Nature’s bounty. “We don’t deliver,” he told The Produce News Sept. 26. “We want customers to come to the terminal to see and smell the produce. Flavors are important.”

Six L’s, a leading field tomato grower based in Immokalee, FL, has changed its name to Lipman. The renaming applies to all divisions of the company, including research and development, farming, processing, repacking and procurement. Its subsidiaries, which include Custom Pak and RediPlants, will now operate under the Lipman name as well.

Mann Packing Co., based in Salinas, CA, is supporting its sales program with multiple promotions this fall.

In October, Mann began placing instant-redeemable coupons on 100,000 packages of Mann’s florets and blend, broccoli and carrots, broccoli and cauliflower, vegetable medley, California stir fry, Broccoli Wokly, and Cauliettes.

The “Fall into Fall” offer is good for 55 cents off any two packages of Mann’s products purchased in the United States. This annual promotion is historically a success nationwide; the 2010 redemption rate was 22 percent.