Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner has been selected to receive the 11th annual Friend of Chile Award presented by the Chilean & American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, an affiliate of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber will honor Gov. Minner Nov. 20, 2008, during a luncheon at the Union League of Philadelphia.

Between the two of them, brothers Marc and Nic Marchini have the family business covered.

Marc Marchini, 25, handles sales and cost-analysis for radicchio specialist J. Marchini Farms, while Nic Marchini, 23, serves as the Le Grand, CA-based company's production manager.

"He is the grower and I am the marketer," Marc Marchini said.

The pair will be in attendance at PMA's Fresh Summit in Orlando, FL, Oct. 24- 27, where in addition to taking in supplier presentations, they are hosting a cocktail reception for their customers.

The fresh potato community in Colorado's San Luis Valley is bidding farewell to Jim and Sandy Tonso of Ca?on Potato Co. with great sorrow but best wishes for the future.

Thomas R. Ford, a recent inductee to the Colorado Agriculture Hall of Fame and chairman of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee in Monte Vista, CO, took time to speak with The Produce News from his tractor as this year's potato harvest began.

Nunhems, the vegetable seed business of Bayer CropScience, brought together experts from different parts of the watermelon supply chain at its first International Watermelon Conference Oct. 2 in Valencia, Spain.

St. Louis-based Sev-Rend Corp., a manufacturer of tags and labels for various bagged and netted products, is rolling out biodegradable tags for fresh produce.

Sev-Rend's flexible packaging works with form-and-fill machines. An example of usage is two-, three-, four- and five-pound bags of citrus. In December, the company will move into a new state-of-the art facility in Collinsville, IL, about 10 miles from its current location. That facility will be certified by the American Institute of Baking.

WASHINGTON -- The United Fresh Produce Association has announced that it will establish a new supply chain technology and logistics program to serve its members in all areas of supply chain management, such as transportation, cold chain quality control, information technologies and systems for traceability, facilities management, packing and packaging needs and related areas.