Industry organizations have been in existence for many years. These groups serve the purpose of promoting product, educating people and promoting good fellowship among members.

There are thousands of organizational groups from many worldwide industries. I'll bet you never heard of some of them. I am fascinated by some of their names: the Soap & Detergent Association, International Society of Explosive Engineers, Distilled Spirits Council and the National Association of Tower Erectors.

Relaxed grade standards for field-grown red and green leaf lettuce have been published by the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service in the Federal Register and will go into effect March 23.

While this is the first time there have been grade standards for these field-grown items, previously USDA inspectors would grade the product against the tougher standards in place for greenhouse-grown red and green leaf lettuce.

Three produce suppliers began shipping radio frequency identification-tagged cases to Publix supermarkets last month in a pilot program that will test the web-based tracking system and involve nearly 300 stores across Florida.

"We're excited by the results so far," said Maria Brous, media and community relations director for Publix Super Markets Inc. We started reading RFID shipments in late January.

An ocean vessel laden with 60 million pounds of fresh Idaho chipping potatoes is currently on its way to Hiroshima, Japan, marking the first time that fresh potatoes from the United states have been allowed into Japan since an import ban went into effect 55 years ago.

Chiquita Brands International Inc., based in Cincinnati, and Core-Mark International, a leading North American distributor to the convenience retail industry, with U.S. headquarters based in South San Francisco, CA, have entered into an arrangement to distribute "Chiquita" brand bananas using Landec Corp.'s patented packaging technology to convenience stores throughout the Core-Mark network of C-stores.

Two of the bigger names in fresh produce are teaming up to expand their presence in the fast-growing fresh-cut fruit category.

Sunkist Growers, a leading marketer of fresh citrus based in Sherman Oaks, CA, and Taylor Farms, a leading supplier of value-added fresh produce to the North American foodservice industry, based in Salinas, CA, announced a new joint venture, Sunkist Taylor LLC. The announcement was made Feb. 22 at Sunkist's 112th annual meeting in Ventura, CA.