SAN DIEGO -- Much like a Super Bowl halftime extravaganza, each year the Produce Marketing Association tries to outdo its previous annual Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition. Perhaps one day the event literally may blow the lid off the building. Until then, PMA will have to be content with setting attendance records and pleasing attendees with its conference.

Family Tree Farms in Reedley, CA, has announced a marketing alliance with Shiraz Ranch in Newman, CA, to market a line of specialty citrus products. The announcement was made Oct. 16 in a press release from Family Tree Farms.

The company "has been focused on a growth pattern recently, gearing up for a future that will enable them to expand beyond their current line-up of stone fruit," the release stated.

Jerry Havel, who was previously vice president of sales and marketing at SunFed in Nogales, AZ, as well as a partner in the company, is now director of sales and marketing for a newly formed produce distribution company in Nogales called Fresh Farms.

Fresh Farms, which opened in early October, is owned by the Molina Family in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, who are among the larger grape growers in Mexico, Mr. Havel told The Produce News. "They do an outstanding job in farming and in packing grapes."

SAN DIEGO -- The fresh produce industry tends toward high marks in the areas of marketing its goods but much lower marks in preventing foodborne illnesses, including the rise in those illnesses from consumption of fresh produce, according to a report card on the industry presented as a workshop at the recent Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit.

SAN DIEGO -- One of the faster-growing employment opportunities for professional chefs is a supermarket, according to Jennifer Gallagher, a professor at the culinary-focused Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, NC.

Global Berry Farms in Naples, FL, is changing its name to Naturipe Farms LLC and will be introducing a new "Naturipe Farms" consumer brand.

The company disclosed to The Produce News in a written statement that it planned to unveil the new corporate identity and consumer brand at the PMA Fresh Summit on Oct. 22. Along with that, the company will announce its "vision for the future."

In making the changes, the company is "building on its reputation as the berry experts with superior customer service and premier growers," according to the statement.