Guatemala was dominating the cantaloupe business in mid-January as Honduras and Costa Rica were nearing their seasonal increase in exports to the United States.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture movement reports on Jan. 20, for the young year to date, arrivals in the United States of Guatemalan cantaloupes totaled 5,403 40,000-pound (truckload) units. This far exceeded Guatemala's melon volume of 2,165 truckloads by the same date a year ago.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie would very much like Douglas Fisher to continue in his post as the state's secretary of agriculture.

To that end, the governor released the following statement of support Jan. 26: "Secretary Douglas Fisher has proven to have a deep appreciation for New Jersey’s agricultural community that will be a valued addition to the Christie administration. I support his position as secretary for the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and look forward to working with him to promote and protect our state’s natural assets."

The term "going south" has only positive implications for Superior Sales, a long-time produce grower-distributor based in Hudsonville, MI, which is formally launching operations at the border of Mexico and Arizona.

The Nogales operation is headed by Brian LaForest and staffed by Steve Murphy and Omar Castillo.

MONTE VISTA, CO — Lower prices nationwide for russet potatoes had slowed movement on other varieties for Colorado shippers, but total shipments as of Jan. 13 were about 10-12 percent above shipments for the same time in 2009.

Jim Ehrlich, executive director of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, told The Produce News that San Luis Valley shippers had moved more than 3,537 loads of spuds in December 2009 compared to 3,425 loads in December 2008. Total loads through December were 11,955, up nearly 2,000 loads over the previous shipping period.

What a difference a year makes.

Last season, mango-producing regions in southern Mexico produced an early bumper crop that resulted in large supplies of the yellow-skinned Ataulfo variety mangos in the marketplace in February, with many handlers having about twice the volume as they did a year earlier for the same time period.

"This year it is going to be just the opposite," said Bill Vogel, president of Tavilla Sales Co. of Los Angeles. "February and March are going to have 50 percent of their regular volume."

A uniform communication system to help retailers pull recalled product off the shelf in quick fashion has been developed and is being utilized by a majority of the national retailers and many of the top center-of-the-store food manufacturers. As of yet, however, only a handful of produce suppliers have signed up.