Bashas', Arizona's largest grocery store retailer with 158 stores, filed for bankruptcy protection in mid-July and announced that it would close 10 stores by July 21.

The amount of produce debt covered by the PACA Trust amendment appears to be in the neighborhood of $5 million, and experts expect that it will be paid. In fact, Bashas' has informed its creditors that it hopes to reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy within three months.

The 2009 Northwest cherry season has not been without its challenges, with what one marketer described as a "barnburner of a crop."

By all accounts, the Bing crop is the largest on record, with June estimates from Northwest Cherries at 16 million to 18.5 million 20-pound equivalents. That number was significantly higher than the 2007 crop, which was itself a record at just under 15 million boxes.

The California Avocado Commission in Irvine, CA, which represents the state's 6,000 avocado growers, has announced staff reductions of nearly 40 percent.

Tom Bellamore, who was named president of the commission in June, told The Produce News, Tuesday, July 14, "Last Friday there was an announcement out to the industry from me that we have taken the first formal step in reorganizing the commission and restructuring, and part of that entailed a reduction in force."

It was a "major" cut, he said. "We went from 18 people down to 11."

WASHINGTON -- Food safety legislation should not hand the Food & Drug Administration quarantine authority and should not require finished product testing -- two fixes the produce industry asked for at a July 16 hearing in the House Agriculture Committee.

Ranchers and farmers said they could not support the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, which is heading to the House floor after passing a committee in June. The bill, they fear, would expand FDA's authority on the farm for producers already regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

LOS ANGELES -- Independent retailers and small retail chains, particularly those that cater to specific ethnic demographics such as Hispanics or Asians, have managed to compete effectively against major retail chains in Southern California over the last several years and, as a whole, have been gaining market share. Several of the smaller chains have experienced impressive growth, adding several new stores each year.

LOS ANGELES -- At age 25, Erin Liu has a college degree in psychology, has been working at Coast Produce Co. in Los Angeles for about three-and-a- half years, and has already spent two years on the sales desk.

In her spare time, her favorite activity is volleyball, and she admits to being "very competitive."