WATSONVILLE, CA -- California Giant Berry Farms is teaming up with two heavy hitters -- the Major League Baseball Player Alumni Association and the Tennis Channel -- for a Sweet on Sports promotion this spring.

The retail promotion includes separate programs featuring each partner for a total of 20 weeks. Sweet on Sports supports the healthy, active lifestyle consumer message that California Giant said it promotes through its full line of berries.

The Center for Produce Safety at the University of California-Davis and the California Leafy Greens Research Program awarded grants to seven leading scientists to conduct research that will provide the produce industry with new data to help mitigate the food-safety risks associated with leafy greens production.

Funded equally by the center and the research program, the awards represent the center's first collaboration under the Partners in Research Program.

As a result of its acquisition last fall by Jacksonville, FL-based Crowley Holdings, Customized Brokers, a Customs-clearance company that specializes in refrigerated cargo that arrives by air and sea, now offers additional logistics services to its current and expanding customer base.

Patricia Compres, president and chief executive officer of Miami-based Customized Brokers, told The Produce News March 6 that her firm is stronger than ever with the Crowley connection, and that the company is expanding its Philadelphia and Los Angeles offices.

After close to three decades in the corporate retail environment in a number of different executive positions, Rick Rynke was a bit frustrated and wanted to get closer to his retail roots. So 19 years ago, he and his son, Bob, bought a small retail grocery company and haven't looked back.

By this time next month, mangos from Mexico should be arriving in the United States without having to undergo a hot-water treatment process that many feel compromises the quality and flavor of the fruit.

An irradiation facility in the Mexican state of Hidalgo has applied for certification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and expects to be shipping irradiated mangos to the United States by mid-April.

With an all-time high of 37,914 planted acres of strawberries in California and with shipments by March 7 tracking ahead of last year, the 2009 season could be headed for another volume record for fresh California strawberries.

Strong volume is expected to come on in time for Easter promotions.

Statewide strawberry acreage for 2009 is up 3.8 percent over 2008 and up 16 percent over 2005, with steady increases each year.