Brian Lorenz has been named The Giant Co.'s vice president of omnichannel fresh merchandising and Kathy Sweigert has been named vice president of the Mid-Atlantic division. Lorenz will report directly to John Ruane, president of The Giant Co., while Sweigert will report directly to Dave Lessard, senior vice president of operations, customer experience and perishable distribution.

Southern Specialties has a produce portfolio that includes asparagus, baby squash, baby carrots and other baby vegetables, as well as broccolettes and clipped greens — all available under the company’s Southern Selects label.

The 2023 celebration of Pear Bureau Northwest's annual World Pear Day is on Dec. 2. Kicking off the 19th annual National Pear Month, this year’s World Pear Day offers consumers around the world the opportunity to celebrate with pears through live chef demos of new pear recipes.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has filed an administrative complaint against United Vegetable Produce Inc. for alleged violations of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. The company, operating from New York, allegedly failed to make payment promptly to two produce sellers in the amount of $100,025 from September 2017 through February 2020.

After a challenging year, culminating with a weather-caused delay in its fall production from Mexico, McAllen, TX-based GR Fresh is looking for a strong rebound as it heads into the holiday season and typically greater production from West Mexico.

The Chilean Blueberry Committee, together with iQonsulting, updated its export estimate for the 2023-24 season, forecasting exports of 76,500 tons of fresh blueberries. This new figure reflects a decrease of 7 percent compared to the first estimate made in October, and a decrease of 13 percent from 2022-23.