Members of the leadership of the Produce Marketing Association and the United Fresh Produce Association met July 18 in Chicago, and while there was speculation that the focus of the meeting would be on a potential merger of the two associations, the chief executives of both groups said that was not the focus of the summit.

MONTEREY, CA -- Jorge Hernandez of U.S. Foodservice called food safety an "industry issue," and Kathy Means of the Produce Marketing Association called it a "supply-chain issue," drilling home the point that food safety is a concern for all.

The two industry representatives' comments came during a panel discussion on food safety at PMA's 26th annual Foodservice Conference & Exposition, held here July 13-15.

MONTEREY, CA -- They came, they saw, they congregated.

The Produce Marketing Association rode into town and drew 1,500 members to its 26th annual Foodservice Conference & Exposition held here July 13-15. Once again, PMA delivered the goods to a record or near-record crowd, which included a small increase in the number of distributors.

The show squeezed in nine more booths than last year, bringing the total number of exhibitor booths to 150. The additional nine booths were in the hallway adjacent to the main showrooms.

A hard freeze that struck avocado-growing areas in Chile early in the week of July 10 is being compared by some to the California freeze of mid-January that reduced that state's avocado crop by as much as 25-30 percent.

It will be two to three weeks before growers can assess the extent of the damage, but some California shippers who handle imported Chilean avocados estimated the expected crop reduction somewhere in the range of 15-30 percent. The shortfall is expected to be felt most severely during late August and early September.

WASHINGTON -- What a difference a week can make for specialty crop producers.

Facing a tight budget, the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee was ready to pass a 2007 farm bill on July 19 with few mandatory dollars tied to specialty crops and an eerie resemblance to the 2002 farm bill.

But now the committee is poised to pass a bill with $1.6 billion for block grants, food-safety initiatives, research, conservation and nutrition programs. The bill was still being debated in the House Agriculture Committee at press time.

After six months of negotiations, the three largest grocery chains in Southern California reached a tentative agreement July 17 with the United Food & Commercial Workers union, thus averting an impending strike that had been authorized by a vote of the union membership on June 24.

Union members at 785 Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons stores were expected to ratify the agreement in votes scheduled for Sunday, July 22, according to an article in The Los Angeles Times.