Chilean blueberry volume "is less than forecast, but there will still be plenty of fruit around the marketplace for Christmas," according to Joe Barsi, vice president of business development for California Giant in Watsonville, CA.

Mr. Barsi told The Produce News Dec. 2 that Chilean blueberry fields "had some colder weather this year, so the harvest is two to three weeks behind schedule. Everyone is getting fruit now," but Chilean year-to-date blueberry volume was 51 percent below volume in the fall of 2008.

TAMPA, FL -- After a decade of unrelenting bad news, the Florida citrus industry finally has reason to celebrate this holiday season.

Since 2006, Florida has been unable to ship to other citrus-producing states and U.S. territories due to a virulent, once-fearsome canker that infected groves and resulted in slowly withering trees and blemished fruit.

Blue Book Services Inc. has entered into a collaboration agreement with Fresno, CA-based Lotpath, a firm that enables food suppliers to share information about their products and production practices with consumers, retailers, trading partners and regulatory agencies, making Lotpath a registered developer with Blue Book Services.

John G. (Sonny) Heeren, president of Heeren Bros. Produce in Grand Rapids, MI, died Nov. 23 in hospice care at Spectrum Health-Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids. Mr. Heeren, who was 80, succumbed about a month after being diagnosed with cancer, according to his son James (Jim) Heeren.

Born in Grand Rapids on July 13, 1929, Mr. Heeren grew up and attended school in Grand Rapids, graduating from high school in 1948. He attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI, where he studied history and education, with the goal of becoming a teacher.

Passion and love of the Finger Lakes region of New York served as the inspiration for husband and wife Debra and Dave Whiting to launch new careers in the restaurant and winery business in 1999 when they opened Red Newt Bistro & Cellars in Hector, NY. Throughout the past decade, the business has evolved into one of the more popular eateries and wineries in the region. Also during that time, both have become highly involved in and dedicated to locally grown initiatives and movements.

Neither began their careers in the food and wine business.

Yakima, WA-based FirstFruits Marketing of Washington recently added more manpower and expertise to its organic sales team with the hiring of Paul Newman as an organic sales specialist.

Mr. Newman brings more than 20 years of sales and marketing experience to FirstFruits Marketing and will join Matt Miles as the core of the firm's organic apple sales team. The duo will have one of the larger organic apple manifests to market, totaling more than 1.5 million cartons of product this crop year.