TORONTO -- It was somewhat of a trial by fire when Julian Sarraino started working full time at Fresh Taste Produce Ltd. as an apple and grape buyer in May 2008.

Mr. Sarraino, 24, represents the fourth generation at the wholesaler run by the Sarraino family and located here at the Ontario Food Terminal.

"My dad and grandfather threw me right in without a lifejacket and the water was deep with nothing to grab on to," Mr. Sarraino said. "I learned pretty quickly what to do and what not to do."

LAS VEGAS -- With traceability now perhaps the key issue for consumers and the produce trade alike, YottaMark is seeing increased interest in its two- year-old HarvestMark traceability solution, as evidenced by three major produce marketers that have adopted the program in the last month alone.

Members of the apple industry have lost a friend and colleague with the passing of Bill Gammie, who died April 10 at the age of 81. Mr. Gammie was the founder of the Jack Frost Fruit Co. in Yakima, WA.

Mr. Gammie, born June 6, 1927, in Hallonquist, Saskatchewan, grew up on a family farm. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. During one mission, he was captured by the Nazis, but freed three days later by soldiers in the Danish army.

LAS VEGAS -- Conceding that it's a "humiliating era to be teaching economics," Ed McLaughlin, director of the undergraduate business program at Cornell University's food industry management program, did his part to enlighten and educate grower-shippers who attended the Grower-Shipper Super Session April 23 during the United Fresh 2009 convention, here.

LAS VEGAS -- A panel of restaurant and foodservice industry experts at the United Fresh Produce Association convention, held April 21-25, here, agreed that one of the key growth trends in menu development is the use of fresh ingredients. They all agreed, of course, that this bodes well for the fresh fruit and vegetable industry.

Growers in some parts of Georgia took a heavy hit with rain in the past month. In some areas of the state, as much as 25 inches fell in about a one- week period. Several cold fronts passed over the state during the same period, compounding crop issues for producers.

"We won't know the full extent of the crop damage for a while," Calvert Cullen, co-owner of Northampton Growers, headquartered in Cheriton, VA, told The Produce News the last week in April. "It will be a progressive assessment because of the shock aspect."