ANAHEIM, CA -- The mood of members of the garlic trade was upbeat during the annual garlic industry breakfast, held Oct. 3 at the Hilton Anaheim, here, and sponsored by Christopher Ranch and Empacadora GAB.

Jeff Stokes of Christopher Ranch said that the firm was seeing increased volume from retailers but not from foodservice providers. However, he said that when the economy improves, that would change and foodservice sales would increase.

ANAHEIM, CA -- Becoming a more environmentally friendly firm basically involves a more efficient use of resources, which in turn results in significant cost savings.

That was the view of a group of panelists who discussed "Finding the ROI of Sustainability" during a workshop session Oct. 4 at the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit International Convention and Exposition, held here Oct. 2-5.

The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement presented produce buyer Tim York with its Golden Checkmark Award for his role in initiating a companywide policy at Markon Cooperative Inc. to accept the LGMA mandatory government inspection as the only required audit for its leafy greens suppliers.

ANAHEIM, CA -- With speakers on both sides of the issue, the concept of a generic national fruit and vegetable promotion campaign was debated during a workshop held during the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition, held here Oct. 2-5.

The amount of money being proposed for this effort appeared to be the hot topic of conversation during the so-called town hall meeting, which took place Oct. 3.

Dole Fresh Vegetables, a division of Dole Food Co., announced a new long- term contract with CHEP, a leading pallet and container pooling company, that calls for Dole to continue shipping the majority of its products on Chep pallets from its 12 facilities in California, Arizona, North Carolina and Ohio to major supermarket retailers, clubstores, foodservice distributors and wholesalers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

ANAHEIM, CA -- Looking to inject some innovation into a category that has been devoid of any significant advancements for years, Del Monte Fresh Produce unveiled a new technology that it believes will improve banana consumption and sales.

Del Monte officials held a press conference Oct. 3 prior to the opening of the 2009 Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit exposition to announce the launch of its proprietary Controlled Ripening Technology, or CRT.