VISALIA, CA " The mission of Sunkist Growers Inc. " to provide the highest returns possible for quality California and Arizona citrus growers " has not changed in over 100 years, Jeff Gargiulo, president and CEO of Sunkist, said at the organization's annual meeting.

MONTEREY, CA " If Bruce Peterson, senior vice president of perishables for Wal-Mart, is correct, then radio frequency identification technology has so far just scratched the surface of its potential.

?The ultimate applications to RFID have yet to be thought about," Mr. Peterson told the audience gathered for the RFIDretail conference held Feb. 10-11 at the Monterey Marriott, here.

The first day featured speakers from various industries, and the second day involved a field trip to the RFID cold-chain produce testing center at nearby NewStar in Salinas.

Cincinnati-based Chiquita Brands International Inc. announced Feb. 23 that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Fresh Express unit of Richmond, VA-based Performance Food Group for $855 million in cash.

The move marks the latest " and largest " development in Chiquita?s resurgence after its 2001 bankruptcy filing. In March 2002, the company announced that it had emerged from its pre-arranged Chapter 11 restructuring "as a healthy company with a solid financial structure."

A new generation of a family entering the greenhouse industry in Leamington, ON, is not an unusual happening. In fact, it's more normal than not in the area and has been for nearly the past 100 years.

It all began when a couple of families emigrated from the Abruzzo region of Italy in the early part of the 20th century and did what they knew best: farm. Innovative people that they were, however, they soon learned that they could extend their crop season by growing in greenhouse environments.

MCL Distributing Inc., a grower, shipper and distributor of "4-Earth? brand conventional and organic specialty produce, announced the hiring of Jeanette De-Coninck Hertzler as a senior account manager.

WASHINGTON " Top officers with the International Fresh-cut Produce Association are expected this April to give a go-ahead to a plan to create a European division, a model that, if successful, could be exported to other regions of the world.

The appetite for fresh-cut produce is growing in Europe, said IFPA President Jerry Welcome, who noted that European processors pitched the idea to IFPA last year. "Obesity is not as hot an issue as over here," he said. But time-starved shoppers, who continue to look for convenient products, are driving the market.