With an eye toward the environment, Christopher Ranch has made the transition from its hard plastic-style containers to resealable, recyclable bags.

The bags are manufactured to use 80 percent less material than the old style jars at an estimated savings of more than a half-million pounds of plastic. Additionally, the company said that it expects to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions released during transportation by 100,000 pounds.

MONTEREY, CA -- PRO*ACT has announced the promotion of Max Yeater to the office of president. Mr. Yeater, who has been with the organization for 17 years, was most recently chief operating officer, and prior to that he was vice president of procurement.

PALMETTO, FL -- This time a year ago, Florida tomato growers were singing the blues. A dozen consecutive nights of subfreezing weather in January and February wiped out the 2010 crop.

VIENNA, VA — The National Apple Month program announced Feb. 14 the winners of its fall 2010 retail and military display contest.

The annual contest provided retailers and the apple industry with an opportunity to showcase apples and apple products along with partner products "Marzetti" Caramel Apple Dips, "Smucker's" Natural Peanut Butter and "JIF" Natural Peanut Butter. These well-established brands are perfect partners for the promotion since their products complement apples perfectly.

VISALIA, CA -- Growers Marketing LLC recently appointed The Fruit Exchange LLC as its exclusive sales agent for Green Giant Fresh citrus for all of North America.

The initial emphasis will be on navels and lemons in the first quarter but will be expanded to include additional category offerings as the program develops. Lobue Citrus, headquartered in Lindsay, CA, will begin packing "Green Giant Fresh" brand citrus the week of Feb. 14, according to Green Giant press release.

"Tropic Moon" red grapefruit from the Edinburg Citrus Association, founded in 1932 in Edinburg, TX, was featured Jan. 28-29 at the historic Driskill Hotel in Austin, TX.

 "Executive Chef Jonathan Gelman and his extremely talented chef staff created culinary magic with the special flavors of the Texas red grapefruit in dishes like Grapefruit-Scallop Ceviche Stack with Spicy Texas Grapefruit Salsa and Spicy Ahi Sashimi with a Texas Citrus Hot Sauce, just to name a few," ECA Marketing Director Paula Fouchek said in a Feb. 14 press release.