“We are pretty much the same as last year” with regard to the 2012 Sonora grape deal, said Miguel Suarez, sales manager and managing partner of MAS Melons & Grapes LLC in Nogales, AZ. “Our volume is pretty constant.” Every year, the company ships around 650,000 to 700,000 cases of grapes, and the company expects to be in that range this year as well.

“Our program is up this year” in the Mexicana grape deal, said Shaun Ricks, president of The Grape Guys in Cutler, CA. With larger crops expected, both for the company and industry-wide, and with a new grower on board this year, “we are going to have a bigger program than we have had in the past. We expect to sell probably 500,000 boxes of Mexican product this year, so we expect to have a pretty good-sized deal.”

The annual Sonora Spring Summit is scheduled to be held April 28-29 in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. The event will be hosted by the Asociation Agricola Local de Productores Uva de Mesa, the local association of table grape growers in Hermosillo, commonly known by its Spanish acronym, AALPUM.

The two-day event, which is open to producers, distributors, buyers and anyone else in the industry who is interested in attending, will consist of a tour of grape vineyards on one day and meetings on the following day.

CALGARY, AB — Fresh Direct Produce, a produce distributor based in Vancouver, BC, launched its Simply Asian line at the Canadian Produce Marketing Association convention and trade show, here.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Agriculture Committee is tentatively scheduled to mark up a farm bill proposal April 25, a move welcomed by agricultural stakeholders who hope Congress can pass a bill before it sunsets in September.

But sources say that the tightening budget climate and calls for further deficit reduction are threatening the chances of a farm bill this year.

Douglas Kling, senior vice president, chief sales and marketing officer for Village Farms International Inc., headquartered in Eatontown, NJ, told The Produce News that the company was looking forward to exhibiting at the New England Produce council Produce & Floral Expo in Foxboro, MA, April 25. The company will exhibit at booth No. 160.