MONTEREY, CA -- Technological innovations will play a key role in improving the taste of fresh produce and in marshaling produce through the supply chain, according to two University of California- Davis professors who spoke during the recent Produce Marketing Association Foodservice Conference & Expo, here.

James Thompson, a professor in the school's biological and agricultural engineering department, and Michael Reid, a professor in the school's department of plant sciences, presented a foreshadowing into the future during a workshop held at the PMA conference.

CEDARVILLE, NJ -- In Mike Maxwell's view, the produce world is like a relay race.

The president of Procacci Bros. Sales/Garden State Farms in Philadelphia elaborated by saying that each segment of the produce industry focuses on carrying the baton for its segment of the race. But within the industry, the various players tend not to know a great deal about what happens before they receive the baton, or what happens with their valuable produce after they let it go.

Salinas, CA-based D'Arrigo Bros. of California is looking to unload its cooler facility in nearby Castroville for a cool $9.8 million.

DNE World Fruit Sales in Ft. Pierce, FL, announced that frost conditions in Australia have damaged part of the country's citrus crop this season. The two largest growing regions, the Riverland and the Sunraysia, had the lowest temperatures for the longest duration. A third growing region, the Riverina, was untouched by the cold.

WASHINGTON -- A new Food & Drug Administration rule may change the nutrient content claims that some produce items can make on their packaging labels.

On July 25, FDA issued a long-awaited rule that sets new voluntary nutrition labeling regulations for the 20 most frequently consumed raw fruits and vegetables.

In early July, Monterey, CA-based Colorful Harvest LLC rolled out a tray pack of its "Scarlet Red Sweet Corn." For the past three years the company has sold the corn solely in bulk.

The company is harvesting its California crop in Merced and has super-sweet seed varieties, said Colorful Harvest Chief Operating Officer Doug Ranno. The company also has trials in other areas of the state. The harvest season in California will run 10-12 weeks, Mr. Ranno said.