A nutritional bump for back-to-school lunches and snacks and a savings on peanut butter has been combined in a promotion featuring “Trout” label apples from Chelan Fresh Marketing and Jif to Go from Jif peanut butter products.

The promo, which uses Kwik Lok closures to attach 55-cent savings coupons to three- and five-pound bags of apples, is available on 2.5 million bags from Chelan Fresh, according to Mac Riggan, the Chelan, WA-based company’s vice president of marketing.

Caito Foods Service Inc., a leading provider of fresh produce wholesale distribution services, announced the appointment of Robert (Bob) Kirch as president and chief executive officer, and Matthew Caito as executive vice president and chief administrative officer. These positions will be effective as of the company's new fiscal year. Messrs. Kirch and Caito will be based in Indianapolis and report to the co-chairmen of the corporation, Phil and Joe Caito.

As we approach the fall of 2012 we can get excited about what the season has in store for us. One of the things I like most about the fall is warm colors in hues of orange, red and gold. This year we are also seeing splashes of vibrant Olympian Blue from Pantone’s colors of the year (www.pantone.com) showing up everywhere from fashion to home décor.

Japan’s devastating tsunami last year has affected the production of cut flowers and plants in Japan. The Dutch magazine Vakblad voor de Bloemisterij, cited in Florist & Wholesaler Buyer, a British publication, quoted official statistics that showed a 5 percent drop in production in Japan. Imported flowers and plants are taking up the slack from the drop in domestic production in Japan, it stated.

Courtney Young will head floral operations for the newly merged Sprouts Farmers Market and Sunflower Farmers Market, it was announced in late July by Tom Foulds, vice president for perishable. The chain of 139 stores and three distribution centers will operate under the Sprouts Farmers Market name and all stores will carry a new program of cut and potted flowers.

More than 7,500 garden center and landscape professionals are expected to attend what is billed as the Southeast’s premier landscape and horticulture conference and trade event. The Landscape Show runs Sept. 27-29 in Orlando, FL, and will feature 200,000 square feet of trees, shrubs, equipment and more from some 400 exhibiting companies, according to a news release.