With only 200 miles separating Atlanta and Reidsville, GA, Shuman Produce Inc. will enjoy a hometown advantage at Fresh Summit 2011.

“We are very excited that PMA’s Fresh Summit is being held in our home state of Georgia, and we have plenty for attendees to see and enjoy at this year’s show,” John Shuman, president and director of sales, told The Produce News.

Seald Sweet International, based in Vero Beach, FL, announced a major expansion of its West Coast operations through a partnership with Fresh Select, a new state-of-the-art packing and cold storage facility located in Dinuba, CA.

The company announced separately that industry veteran Rick Eastes has joined the company and will head the firm’s West Coast operations as general manager.

Hollandia Produce’s new Squircle clamshell and accompanying harness-style shipping carton have been named one of 28 finalists in the 2011 PMA Impact Award: Excellence in Packaging competition.

Deardorff Family Farms announced that it is nearing completion on a new LEED-certified facility that will serve as its headquarters. The facility will include 115,000 square feet of cooling, processing, packing and office space. The scheduled completion date is the first quarter of 2012.

“This project is just one more example of our family’s four-generation-long commitment to sustainability,” Tom Deardorff II, president of Deardorff Family Farms, said in a press release.

Stemilt Growers Inc., headquartered in Wenatchee, WA, plans to pull out the stops this year with the unveiling of its new “Lil Snappers” display at the PMA Fresh Summit 2011.

“We’re going to launch a kid-sized apples campaign,” Roger Pepperl, director of marketing at Stemilt Growers, told The Produce News. “These are apples that eat well when they’re small.”

D’Anjou pears will also be featured as part of the innovative promotion.

Apio Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Landec Corp. and a leading producer of fresh-cut vegetable products, has introduced a chipotle salad kit, a new flavor profile to add to its successful salad-kit line. The new SKU began shipping nationwide on Sept. 19.

The company’s fresh-cut vegetable-based salad line was first introduced to the market in clubstores in 2005 with the broccoli salad kit followed by the Asian salad kit in 2006. These two salads were later introduced to the retail market in 12-ounce size package in 2009.