Homestead FL-based Brooks Tropicals Inc. has hired Zoltan Pinter as vice president of administration. Mr. Pinter will spearhead the continued expansion of the firm's Belizean papaya production, oversee the rollout of new information technology, and handle the company's legal matters and government relations.

Mr. Pinter's multiple skills were honed during a decade in the produce industry and his experience will be put to immediate use meeting the market's increased demand for Brooks' "Caribbean Red" and "Caribbean Sunrise" brand papayas, according to a company statement.

FRESNO, CA -- Representatives of the California Table Grape Commission, accompanied by a celebrity chef, will be going to New York City in August to meet with the staff of the Food Network, according to Jim Howard, communications director for the commission.

"We will talk to [the Food Network staff] about fresh California grapes," including their versatility, recipe ideas, the history of the industry, health benefits of grapes and "ways in which [the Food Network] can incorporate grapes in all of their programming," he said.

MONTEREY, CA -- A panel of industry leaders came together for the opening general session at the Produce Marketing Association's 2006 Foodservice Conference & Exposition to share insights into how to best corral the considerable opportunities that exist to increase the sale of fresh produce to foodservice.

SALINAS, CA -- Markon Cooperative, a produce purchasing and marketing cooperative comprised of the leading independent broadline foodservice distributors in Canada and the United States, purchases its produce from some 50 suppliers nationwide.

WALLA WALLA, WA -- Toasty temperatures in the Walla Walla valley eventually pushed the mercury into triple digits, but it did not put a damper on the recent 22nd annual Walla Walla Sweet Onion Festival.

The free event, held at the Walla Walla County Fairgrounds July 14-16, showcased the famous Walla Walla sweet onion, a variety as distinctive as the area in which it is grown and marketed.

As the July 24 issue of The Produce News was going to press, it was learned that Keith Frosceno, regional vice president of sales for W. Newell & Co. in Champaign, IL, left that company July 14.