CHARLESTON, SC -- Two of the larger firms in the watermelon industry - Borders Melon Co. Inc. and Melon 1 Inc. - are now utilizing YottaMark Inc.'s HarvestMark solution for traceability.

Redwood City, CA-based YottaMark made the announcements during the National Watermelon Convention, held here Feb. 18-22 at the Francis Marion Hotel.

SALINAS, CA -- Industry veteran Ken Silveira has joined Kingsville, ON-based Mastronardi Produce Ltd. as president of its new division, Mastronardi West.

Mastronardi Produce is opening a 20,000-square-foot warehouse here, with additional office space connected to it. The company will begin shipping product out of Salinas by April 1, Mr. Silveira told The Produce News Feb. 24.

The Salinas office will carve out a U.S. region designated as west of Denver, with distribution in California, Arizona, Oregon and Washington as its primary focus, Mr. Silveira said.

PARLIER, CA -- Official estimates for the 2009 California peach, nectarine and plum crops will not be made until April after fruit has actually set on the trees. But the California Tree Fruit Agreement, at its winter committee and board meetings held here Feb. 19 approved budgetary assessments based on a tentative and somewhat "conservative" preliminary estimate of a combined total of 50 million boxes of fruit for the season.

CHARLESTON, SC -- Although uncertainty about the economy may have kept attendance down slightly at this year's National Watermelon Association convention, that didn't stop the approximately 400 members of the trade who turned out for the event, now in its 95th year. The event was Feb. 18-22 at the Francis Marion Hotel, here.

WASHINGTON - After holding the regulations up for one last review, the Obama administration gave final clearance for the mandatory country-of- origin labeling rules to go into effect March 16.

WASHINGTON - With the country mired in an economic downturn, Congress eying food-safety legislation and a massive peanut butter recall underway, produce companies need to make food safety an essential part of their business culture, according to Bob Whitaker.

Dr. Whitaker, the chief science office at the Produce Marketing Association, plans to tell buyers and sellers at the association's March 19 Produce Solutions Conference that produce companies need to view food safety as a revenue generator, not a costly burden.