MONTEREY, CA -- Citing a figure of "more than 1,500 attendees," the Produce Marketing Association said that its 2006 Foodservice Conference & Exposition drew record attendance. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the show.

Saturday, July 22 marked the 29th anniversary of the Watsonville Criterium Cycling Race, which was held in downtown Watsonville, CA. The course was to have many dips and turns and was on local city streets allowing plenty of involvement from the neighborhoods with the opportunity to cheer the riders on as they passed by Brewington, Cerritos, Rogers, Oregon, Hill and California streets. The race had several categories including local juniors division, masters, women and Cat 1/2 men.

A salesperson was just completing a long-winded presentation to a retailer. After it ended, the retailer asked, "So what's new about your item?"

Not expecting that question, the representative hemmed and hawed, "Well, umm, I mean, umm, well & nothing. But the package is neat anyway."

What company can afford to throw away valuable revenue dollars by not being inventive? Today, companies have to be "sly as a fox" in creating something new and of value for consumers. And if they're not, they're sunk.

RIVERHEAD, NY -- To say that Lauren Keenan is an animal lover would be an understatement.

While most 26-year-olds would probably choose to take a week's vacation sitting on a beach or partying in Florida or Mexico, Ms. Keenan drove to New Orleans last October to help rescue and take care of animals that were left homeless and ownerless in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The U.S. Navy is hoping this January to outfit ships with a packaging technology that would boost the shelf life of fresh produce to save the military from wasting millions of dollars on spoiled fruits and vegetables.

The Navy has been testing Apio Inc.'s BreatheWay, a proprietary membrane technology that provides an optimal atmosphere within the package to extend shelf life and preserve the freshness of the produce.

Thanks to favorable peach growing weather, New Jersey is projecting an excellent crop of yellow peaches, white peaches and nectarines.

New Jersey's crop enjoyed a winter with near perfect chill hours and a very favorable spring with just the right amount of rain. In anticipation of a full crop, growers did heavy thinning to increase size. Fruit quality appears to be outstanding.