You are a sales representative with a responsibility to sell a new company product to a retailer. The first step is setting up that challenging appointment. You would prefer to see the top decision-maker, but you realize that may not be possible.

You anxiously make a phone call, hoping to get a date and time approved.

“Pacific AgPak has been providing packaging options for its loyal customers for over 20 years,” said Dave Baum, president of Pacific AgPak in Watsonville, CA. “We have developed and mainstreamed a lot of different pack styles for strawberries. With the development of the first PET [Polyethylene terephthalate] one-pound clamshell, and the first club store four-pound clamshell, we have now turned our attention to our growers and retailers request in developing several new programs.”

Chinese garlic in the U.S. market has been a source of frustration for California garlic growers for a number of years, particularly when prices for Chinese garlic in the U.S. market has been below the cost of domestic production.

But Jim Provost, founder and managing partner of I Love Produce in Kelton, PA, which markets garlic from both China and California, as well as other producing areas, foresees a time when California garlic can be exported to China.

This fall, Produce for Kids and select grocery stores will be launching the Healthy Schools, Healthy Minds campaign to raise money for local health- and nutrition-based classroom projects in each of the participating retailers’ markets through DonorsChoose.org. In addition, Produce for Kids will be continuing its partnership with Sprout, the 24-hour preschool television channel.

Henry A. DeBlouw, president of Mike Pirrone Produce Inc. in Capac, MI, died in a tragic accident Aug. 15 at the company's cooler. He was 49.

Brigitte Rogowski, a long-time employee of the company, told The Produce News that Mr. DeBlouw was attempting to adjust the cooler temperature at the electrical box and was accidentally electrocuted.

California melon growers are clearly frustrated after the second straight year of seeing their market potentially damaged because of food-safety issues far from the fields in the Golden State.

This time of year, California is the major supplier of cantaloupes, honeydews and other melons, but this is also the time of year when regional and local deals are in full swing.