This month marks the 10th anniversary for Bart Minor in his role as president and chief executive officer of the Mushroom Council.

The decade for the council, based in Dublin, CA, has seen a dramatic ebb and flow.

The Santa Maria, CA, area located in Santa Barbara County has plenty of advantages for produce growers, with its excellent ground and long growing season.

In recent years Salinas, CA-based Pacific International Marketing has been increasing its acreage in Santa Maria by 5-10 percent annually, said Melinda Richardson, PIM's director of marketing.

Supreme Cuts LLC in Mahwah, NJ, announced that Merle Axelrod has joined the firm as its president. Ms.

Axelrod will be overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company, which has grown into a leading processor and distributor of fresh, pre-cut vegetables for both the retail and foodservice markets.

After an eventful Chilean fruit season, importers are hoping for some stability as the deal winds down into the spring with apples and kiwifruit.

Early Chilean apple imports had been arriving in the Philadelphia area for two weeks when Ron Dandrea spoke to The Produce News March 19.

Mr. Dandrea, who is vice president of Dandrea Produce, based in Buena, NJ, said that his firm's Chilean apple volume this spring will be up about 20 percent from 2007, but buyers should expect "smaller sizing, at least on the front end of the deal."

FRESNO, CA -- The weather this past winter and early spring has been just about ideal to produce a strong and consistent bloom and a good set in cherry, apricot, peach, plum, nectarine and other stone fruit orchards in California's San Joaquin Valley, according to growers and shippers in the area. Barring any future weather problems, good-quality fruit and an orderly harvest with good volume are expected for the 2008 season.

Industry veteran Chris Elsie has launched a new grower-shipper operation called Pura Vida Farms, which is headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ, and will begin shipping melons in late April.

"We will eventually focus on a wide range of fruits and vegetables, but we are beginning this spring with a melon deal," he told The Produce News March 26.