“Blueberries and raspberries from Chile complement our blackberry program out of Guatemala and Mexico,” Charlie Eagle, vice president of business development for Southern Specialties in Pompano Beach, FL, told The Produce News. “Chile plays an especially important role in our year-round blueberry program. Southern Specialties offers its berries in our ‘Southern Selects’ labels as well as other labels.”

RPE-Colorado is building upon its success with value-added product and is once again marketing individually wrapped and tray-pack potatoes. “Last season went very well, and we anticipate building on it,” Account Manager Darren White told The Produce News Jan. 17.

RPE Inc., a second-generation potato and onion grower-shipper owned by the Wysocki Family of Cos. in Bancroft, WI, opened its doors in Colorado last year. This season, RPE-Colorado is marketing russets, yellows and some reds grown in Colorado’s San Luis Valley by Hi-Land Potato Co., Metz Potato Co. and McNitt Produce.

The Hass Avocado Board in Irvine, CA, announced in a press release Jan. 12 that it has named Emiliano Escobedo as the organization's new executive director, effective Jan. 16, a position previously held by Jose Luis Obregon, who resigned in October to become a partner in his family's business, IPR Fresh in Nogales, AZ.