Industry veteran Dawn Gray to join Oppenheimer
Dawn Gray, who has served as general manager since early 2007 for pipfruit marketer ENZA, based in Auckland, New Zealand, will join The Oppenheimer Group as senior vice president of sales, marketing and categories next spring. Her tenure with the international produce marketer begins officially on April 1. Ms. Gray will take on many of the responsibilities of Oppenheimer Senior Vice President Bob Dunlop, who will retire at the end of 2008 after 24 years in leadership positions with the organization.
Oregon's Orchard View Farms to be featured on the Food Network
Multi-generational, family-owned-and-operated Orchard View Farms in The Dalles, OR, will be featured in a Sept. 1 segment of "How'd That Get On My Plate?" a new program that premiered earlier this summer on the Food Network.
According to Eric Patrick, director of marketing for Grant J. Hunt Co., the exclusive sales and marketing agent for Orchard View's cherries, filming for the show took place in the orchards on Thursday, July 10, with show host Sunny Anderson explaining the progression of cherries from tree to plate.
Backyard Farms to add second greenhouse
Backyard Farms LLC, one of the larger New England greenhouse growers of vine-ripened tomatoes, announced that it would begin construction of its second greenhouse in Madison, ME, this fall. Approximately 75 new workers will be hired for the facility next spring.
Oneonta to handle sales and marketing for Diamond
WENATCHEE, WA -- In a recently forged agreement between two major Northwest fruit grower-shippers, Wenatchee, WA-based Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers has taken on exclusive sales and marketing for Diamond Fruit Growers in Odell, OR.
Oneonta Marketing Director Scott Marboe told The Produce News that a new label, "Diamond Starr Growers," is being introduced this season on cartons, totes and bags, and will be used in addition to the "Oneonta Starr Ranch" and "Diamond" labels.
Brooks Tropicals launches StarPac for starfruit
With its starfruit program ramping up for the season, Homestead, FL-based Brooks Tropicals has introduced a new clamshell pack for the product that will improve shipping and merchandising.
"The launch of our new starfruit StarPac was timed with the season revving up," said Mary Ostlund, director of marketing for the company. "The package is being released in August. It's basically a clamshell with two divisions for one starfruit each."
Rio Queen Citrus to rise from the ashes
Mike Martin, president of Rio Queen Citrus Inc. in Mission, TX, said that the company is making the best of a bad situation following a June 11 fire that destroyed the company's main office and citrus packingshed.
"What is most important is that we take care of our commitment to our customers," Mr. Martin told The Produce News July 21. "We're emphasizing rebuilding and making everything more efficient."
Citrus psyllid knocking on California's door
The California citrus industry, in cooperation with the California Department of Food & Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, SAGARPA (the Mexican ministry of agriculture) and other agencies, has gone into a full- court-press defensive posture in an effort to delay the entrance into California of a tiny insect pest called the Asian citrus psyllid after the pest was found June 26 in citrus trees in Tijuana, Mexico, just four blocks from the U.S.-Mexico border.
'Empire-Sweets' season to kick off in early August
Zappala Farms' 12 locations in the central New York state area include farming operations, a packaging facility and a headquarters office. The company grows, packs and markets the popular "Empire-Sweets" branded sweet onion.
Congressional hearings to examine impact of Salmonella probe
WASHINGTON -- Tomato growers will get a chance to tell their stories about the millions of dollars lost during what they call a botched investigation into the recent Salmonella outbreak at two congressional hearings scheduled for the last week of July.
Beauregard leaves Sobeys for Metro
MONTREAL -- Robert Beauregard resigned as Sobeys Ontario's senior director of produce merchandising and procurement and has joined Metro Inc. as its new director of central negotiation for produce for Ontario and Quebec.
Mr. Beauregard will report to Bernadette Hamel, Metro's senior director for produce replenishment, merchandising and central procurement. Ms. Hamel told The Produce News July 23 that he will be starting his new position July 28.