McALLEN, TX — With record attendance, hot-button topics, government and industry VIPs from the U.S. and Mexico and a new business expo component, the third annual America Trades Produce Conference, held here March 6-8 at the McAllen Convention Center, displayed deepening dialogue and a new willingness on the part of participants to forego surface formalities, roll up their sleeves and go to work to take advantage of the increasingly important influx of produce from south of the border into the United States.

After years of encouraging Americans to grill, bake, mash, blend, spread and split bananas for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert, Dole is delivering a far simpler message to fans of the country's most popular fruit in 2013: Peel the Love.

Santa Cruz Berry Farming Co. LLC in Watsonville, CA, is involved in strawberry production in the Watsonville district as well as the earlier Oxnard and Santa Maria districts.

Oxnard, where the harvest has been going on in a light way for some time, was “just getting ready to ramp up” when The Produce News talked to Stephanie Hilton, a spokeswoman for Santa Cruz.

“We are just about finished with our GlobalGAP certification, which is a big deal,” said Matt Biscotti, who handles strawberry sales at Sweet Darling Sales Inc. in Aptos, CA, near Watsonville, CA.

A company’s level of food-safety compliance is becoming not only of greater interest to customers but more transparent with safety and traceability initiatives that are in place.

During the off-season between the 2012 and 2013 crops, Sweet Darling has been involved in performing various upgrades to its strawberry cooler, which is located in nearby Castroville.

When trying to call a business, have you ever had problems with getting through to a person? How often have you heard, “Listen carefully to the following options as our menu choices have changed,” and then you try dialing zero, hoping to reach an operator, only to hear, “That is not a valid selection.” It can be frustrating when your time is precious, but it won’t happen when you call Pacific AgPak Inc.

Peakfresh USA, which sells a pallet bag and box liners that it claims significantly increase shelf life of fruits and vegetables, is armed with more research to back up that claim.

Greg Ganzerla, president of the firm, which has its offices in Lake Forest, CA, in southern Orange County, told The Produce News March 11, “We are just about to come out with results of a new study done with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and the U.S. Department of Agriculture that proves that the Peakfresh bags do a great job.”