The only thing new for Bernardi & Associates Inc., coming into the 2010-11 Nogales season, is the opening of an office in McAllen, TX, said Joe Bernardi, president.

Headquartered in Nogales, AZ, Bernardi & Associates also has seasonal offices in San Diego, in Turlock, CA, and in Fort Meyers, FL. When The Produce News talked to Mr. Bernardi by phone Nov. 30, he was in the Turlock office where he has been for the summer and fall, mainly working the California tomato deal. As always, he will head down to Nogales by the first of the year.

NOGALES, AZ — SCC Fresh LLC, here, which was formed in November 2009 by Sergio Chamberlain, was "just starting up" and “didn't have much of anything, really,” by way of product to offer. “But this year I am anticipating to have a steadier program,” Mr. Chamberlain told The Produce News Nov. 10.

For the 2010-11 season, the company will be handling an assortment of Mexican-grown items throughout the season. “My program is going to be pretty much from start to finish,” fall through spring, he said.

Natural Flavor Produce LLC in Nogales, AZ, is a new business on the scene in the West Mexico deal, but the general manager, Gabriel (Gabe) Nuñez, who handles sales for the company, has 18 years of experience on the sales desk.

NOGALES, AZ — Sandia Distributors Inc., here, has hired two new sales people to replace Gabe Nuñez and Steve Damon, who are no longer with the company.

"We brought in Bobby Peraza, who was over at Borg, and we brought in Luis Hanna, who was over at Del Campo," said Bill Spence, sales manager, on Nov. 10. Both new hires had started about a month earlier.

Danny Carosilva continues on the sales desk at Sandia, along with Mr. Spence.

NOGALES, AZ — Veggies Inc., here, a buying broker which handles all of the produce items available in the Nogales produce deal on a buy-sell basis and also does quality-control inspections, consolidation and repacking, has expanded the size of its quality-control department this year with the addition of "a couple of new inspectors," according to Marco Barreda, vice president.

In addition, “on the operations side, we added three new refrigerated trucks” to the company's fleet of bobtail trucks, he said.

The Los Angeles based Giumarra Cos., which has had a presence in Nogales, AZ, for four decades, is expecting an increase in its organic volume this year, and will debut a couple of other new products.

"We have steadily been increasing our organic product offering," said Ben Reilly, the firm's Midwest business development manager, who is based in the Arizona office. “We now offer U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified organic melons, bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries and papaya to complement our conventional product line.”