Well-Pict Inc. will use the PMA Fresh Summit to introduce a premium proprietary strawberry variety that was specifically developed to produce larger berries later in the season as well as a new proprietary raspberry variety with superior flavor.

"These superior plants are already outperforming expectations," Dan Crowley, sales manager for Watsonville, CA-based Well-Pict, said in an Oct. 11 press release. “The bigger strawberries will make for even more beautiful displays this fall, which means even higher sales in produce departments.”

Ten years ago, John Shuman of Shuman Produce Inc. in Reidsville, GA, had an idea for a promotional campaign that would bring much-needed funding to children's hospitals and also help him sell more Vidalia onions that season.

Mr. Shuman had no idea that a decade later he would be celebrating the 10th anniversary of Produce for Kids, a program that has raised more than $3 million for the Children’s Miracle Network of 170 hospitals and for PBS Kids educational campaigns simply through the sale of produce.

Monterey Mushrooms remains committed to investing in the scholastic achievement of its youth. This is evident as Monterey's Carl Victor Fields scholarship program, initiated in 1992, has now surpassed $1.5 million in awards to over 980 dependent children of its employees.

Awards for the school year 2010-11 included a total of $150,000 in new or renewed scholarships awarded to 107 students.

Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc. will release a new eight-ounce stand-up bag for its roasted pistachios in mid-October, company officials said.

Joseph Setton, the firm's vice president of sales and marketing, told The Produce News Sept. 22 that "the smaller pack size is attractive this year because of pricing," and added that the firm believes that this will help increase sales of pistachios that might otherwise be lower due to the downturn in the economy.

DNE World Fruit Sales Inc. will showcase its line of citrus from around the world at this year's PMA Fresh Summit in Orlando, FL.

"We will be kicking off Florida citrus and Texas grapefruit, as well as promoting Mexican lemons, Spanish clementines and the 'Ocean Spray’ Fresh tie-ins," Kathy Hearl, marketing promotions manager at DNE, told The Produce News.

Ms. Hearl added that visitors to the DNE booth (No. 3865) at the PMA expo can expect to see more merchandising, including high-graphic display bins and some bagged citrus.

FRESNO, CA — Export markets are a major outlet for fresh California grape sales, consuming for typically around one-third of the state's roughly 95 million-box annual crop.

Last year, total exports were a little over 34 million boxes (19-pound equivalents), with Canada accounting for about one-third of that volume and Asian countries constituting 38 percent of all grape exports from California. Because of the importance of export markets to the industry, the California Table Grape Commission has long put a strong emphasis on market development programs in importing countries.