Kansas City’s Historic City Market is a gentle reminder that people in the region have always been tied to the land.

“From the earliest days, everyone would come here with their produce,” Market Master Deb Connors told The Produce News. “Then it evolved into a wholesale market with truckloads of goods.” Ethnic influences, particularly Italian, have always been strong and important.

Kim Matthews, who with her husband, Terris, owns Matthews Ridgeview Farms in Wynne, AR, told The Produce News that the company had an awesome sales year with the current crop.

“The crop was good — not bumper — but good,” she said. “But we did have an outstanding sales year. As of late January we had about 55 percent of the crop remaining in storage. Our projections are that we will have a tight run of supplies when the 2013 harvest starts the first week of September.”

In 1913, U.S. watermelon growers began holding a series of informal discussions about how to better their position. As that year progressed, so did they. It soon became clear that this loose collection of growers needed a formal organization to represent their interests and in March 1914 the group gathered in Atlanta for the first time as an assembly. They left as what today is the National Watermelon Association, which will kick off its centennial celebration at its annual convention Feb. 20-24 at the Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio, TX.

Eric Viramontes, chief executive officer of the Associación Mexicana de Horticultura Protegida A.C., or Mexican Association of Protected Horticulture, is stepping down from his post as the organization's top executive, a position he has held since 2008. Mr. Viramontes will be replaced by Arturo Diaz.

The Southern California strawberry harvest typically starts around mid-December each year, but just about anyone in the California strawberry industry who has production in the state’s southern districts will tell you that production during the winter months seldom proceeds without some form or another of weather interruption.

Sunrise Fresh Produce LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Merchants Foodservice, announced the completion of its acquisition of certain assets from Emerald Coast Finest Produce located in Pensacola, FL. The closing, completed Jan. 18, enables Sunrise Fresh Produce to operate its third produce distribution center as Sunrise Produce Gulf Coast.

With the acquisition, Sunrise Produce Gulf Coast will have a 40,000-square-foot facility. The warehouse is climate controlled and has seven separate temperature zones to ensure the freshness of product for its customers.