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.

With shiploads of fresh Chilean fruit headed to U.S. seaports, "Our responsibility here is to make sure there is a home for the fruit when it arrives," said Tom Tjerandsen, who spoke from the Sonoma, CA, headquarters of the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association.

Mr. Tjerandsen, managing director of North America for the Chilean fruit promotion group, said that one of the association's high-profile marketing tools is an aggressive television advertising program that is scheduled to run from the third week of January into April.

It is a new year, and there is a new look at 100 Vidalia Sweet Onion Drive in Vidalia, GA, where the Vidalia Onion Committee, Vidalia Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and Vidalia Onion Business Council are based. The grass and shrubs flanking the building's front walk have been uprooted, and thousands of Vidalia onion seedlings have been set out in their place.

The value-added and branded product line marketed by Southern Specialties Inc. has garnered solid acceptance by consumers and the trade, according to Charlie Eagle, vice president of business development for the Pompano Beach, FL-based firm. "We have been more involved in private labeling than we ever had in the past and, in spite of the economic conditions, it appears the specialty items are still very relevant," Mr. Eagle said.