In August 2010, Hess Fruit Co. in Leola, PA, installed a new “Greefa” packingline. Fred Hess, president and co-owner with his brother Jerry Hess, told The Produce News that the equipment has been a great asset to the company.

“It’s working out extremely well for us,” said Mr. Hess. “We are using the internal sorting option more than we thought we would. It has the latest software for defect sorting and internal sorting. It was a major investment for our company, but it is enabling us to increase our daily production.”

The Peru, NY-based Forrence Orchards apple crop looks fabulous this year, said Peter Forrence, vice president of the company.

“We’ve had plenty of sunshine and sufficient recent rain to produce spectacular flavor,” he said. “We are very enthusiastic going forward. Our acreage is unchanged at about 1,100 acres, producing between 600,000 and 650,000 bushes, which is about where we’ve been in the last few years.”

“The stars seem to have aligned and things came together to result in what we feel should be the nicest apple crop in a while,” Lee Peters, vice president of sales and marketing for Fowler Farms in Wolcott, NY, told The Produce News. “We start harvesting Paul Red the week of August 15, and the following [week] we start harvesting Ginger Gold, followed a week later with the Zestar.”

On August 10, Mathew D’Arrigo vice president of D’Arrigo Brothers Co. of NY Inc., located at Hunts Point Terminal Market in Bronx, NY, said that he is hearing that the apple crop this year is in good condition.

“Predictions are that the fruit will be normal to large size and high quality,” said Mr. D’Arrigo. “The California crop is sold out, so we’ll be hitting the ground running when the new crop comes in.”

He added that the Honey Crisp apple variety is in strong demand.

Mann Packing, based in Salinas, CA, hired Scott Wise as customer solutions manager, a new position, effective Aug. 8. He has more than 27 years of experience in the fresh produce and consumer packaged goods industries, according to the company’s Aug. 11 press release.

Mr. Wise was previously with Chiquita Brands (Fresh Express), where he held a variety of sales and customer service positions for 18 years. Prior to that, he worked for almost 10 years as a commodity sales representative and product manager for Bruce Church Inc.

Mike Parr, president of Team Produce International Inc. in Miami, believes it is a prudent business decision this year to grow the supply side of his Peruvian asparagus deal moderately.

“I think overall we will see about a 10 percent growth in volume this year over last,” he said. “I want to grow about the same amount to maintain my market share, but I don’t want to grow too fast and exert a downward pressure on the price.”