California Giant Berry Farms sponsors Urban Girls Squad event
California Giant Berry Farms recently teamed up with blogger Coryanne Ettiene and the Urban Girls Squad, a social networking group in New York City for women in their 20s and 30s, to host an exclusive berry party, NYC style. The event was held April 23 at the GE Monogram Center in the Iconic Architects & Designers Building in mid-town New York.
Sbrocco a sponsor at charity basketball event
CHERRY HILL, NJ — Fresh produce importer and distributor Sbrocco International Inc. was a key sponsor at a charity basketball event Saturday, April 20, and Sunday, April 21, at a venue just a short distance from the company's headquarters here in southwestern New Jersey.
NORCAL Sun ‘N Fun Weekend to expand grower tours, education sessions
Expanded grower tours and education sessions, a golf tournament on a championship course, distinguished service awards, a floral fashion show and the world’s largest display of California flowers and greenery under one roof are highlights of the biennial Fun ‘N Sun Weekend sponsored by NORCAL, the California association of flower growers and shippers.
Memorial Day project seeks to renew community efforts to honor war dead
More than 200 veterans or national cemeteries will have the graves of military veterans decorated with roses on Memorial Day, May 27, through the Memorial Day Flowers Program.
Ramiro Peñaherrera, head of the Flowers for Kids program and a director of the new nonprofit foundation sponsoring the Memorial Day project, told The Produce News as of late April that about 170 floral retail operations had already signed up.
Nevado Roses opens airport I Love Roses shop in Quito
Nevado Roses in Ecuador opened a new I Love Roses luxury rose shop in the new airport near Quito, Ecuador, in a ceremony on April 15. The shop in the tax-free departures area of the International Departures Hall in the newly inaugurated Mariscal Antonio Jose de Sucre International Airport will carry a variety of rose products, the company stated in a news release.
Floral, nursery research funds in farm bill
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved nearly $3.3 million to fund critical floral and nursery industry research projects in 2013 through the 2008 farm bill pest and disease program. This includes several projects of direct benefit to greenhouse and nursery growers, according to a news release from the Society of American Florists.
Immigration plan includes guest worker program, key to floral trade
After months of intense negotiations, a bipartisan group of eight U.S. Senators announced a sweeping immigration bill April 18 that includes a guest worker visa program vital to the floral and agricultural industries. The 844-page bill is designed to secure the border, allow foreign workers into the country while requiring employers to verify their legal status, and put 11 million people here illegally on a path to citizenship.
Retail forum: Independent garden center futures shaky
Independent garden center owners and managers were told by retail specialists that unless they change they probably will go out of business. “The future of many independent retail garden centers is an economic improbability,” was the glum prediction of Sid Raisch at a two-day forum Jan. 30-31 in Nashville, TN, sponsored by OFA, an association of horticultural professionals.
Joe Theisman to keynote at FPFC South
An expected crowd of more than 1,200 will hear Joe Theismann, former star quarterback for the Washington Redskins pro football team, deliver the keynote address for the Southern California Expo of the Fresh Produce & Floral Council on July 17 at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim.
A capacity crowd of more than 250 exhibitors is also expected; they would occupy all 195 exhibitor booth spaces on the show floor, said Carissa Mace, head of the council, in an interview. The Southern California show is the biggest event of the year for the FPFC.
Proflora to feature exhibits, farm tours, breeder and grower contest
Proflora, the biennial Colombian flower show, will feature exhibits, farm tours, a golf tourney, opening ceremony with the president of Colombia welcoming attendees, grower and breeder competitions, and a noted closing party.
The show will be held Oct. 2-4 at the Corferias convention center in Bogotá, Columbia. This 2011 show was held in expanded quarters in a new pavilion at Conferias, where most events and all exhibits could be housed under one roof. The new venue offers 30 percent more exhibit space and will have a technology pavilion.