The good news about the avocado market in the United States is that consumer demand is "going through the roof," according to Ross Wileman, vice president of sales and marketing at Mission Produce Inc. in Oxnard, CA. The current challenge is that for the next few months, there will not be enough supplies available to meet that demand.

In the current business world, sales are flat and profits are getting eaten up faster than ever by skyrocketing costs. And just as we manage to get to the top of one hill, we find that there is another hill waiting. Each is beginning to get higher and more burdensome to climb.

Do you find it more difficult these days to earn a buck? Are you overly stressed when trying to meet the company budget? Have weekly sales meetings turned into pressure-cooker events? If so, you are not alone.

WASHINGTON — An additional 950,000 students could be snacking on free fruits and vegetables at school next year, bumping up the number to 4 million children nationwide, under grants announced March 23 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund its popular Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program.

John Hubbard, a longtime veteran of the produce industry, will retire from Supervalu’s Eastern Region division April 29 after a career that spanned more than four decades.

Mr. Hubbard began his grocery career in 1963 when he joined Jewell Tea Co. as a utility clerk. He worked at several other retail operations, including the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Loblaw/Peter J. Schmidt Inc.

Target, one of the nation’s larger general merchandise retailers, is expecting to add produce departments to about 400 stores this year, almost doubling the number of stores that handled fresh produce at the end of 2010.