Chilean apples and kiwis up next in lively season
After an eventful Chilean fruit season, importers are hoping for some stability as the deal winds down into the spring with apples and kiwifruit.
Early Chilean apple imports had been arriving in the Philadelphia area for two weeks when Ron Dandrea spoke to The Produce News March 19.
Mr. Dandrea, who is vice president of Dandrea Produce, based in Buena, NJ, said that his firm's Chilean apple volume this spring will be up about 20 percent from 2007, but buyers should expect "smaller sizing, at least on the front end of the deal."
Excellent bloom sign of good season for stone fruit
FRESNO, CA -- The weather this past winter and early spring has been just about ideal to produce a strong and consistent bloom and a good set in cherry, apricot, peach, plum, nectarine and other stone fruit orchards in California's San Joaquin Valley, according to growers and shippers in the area. Barring any future weather problems, good-quality fruit and an orderly harvest with good volume are expected for the 2008 season.
New grower-shipper enters melon deal
Industry veteran Chris Elsie has launched a new grower-shipper operation called Pura Vida Farms, which is headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ, and will begin shipping melons in late April.
"We will eventually focus on a wide range of fruits and vegetables, but we are beginning this spring with a melon deal," he told The Produce News March 26.
IN THE TRENCHES: Ingenuity sparked success in the produce industry
In the 6th century B.C., a popular plant called lettuce was served to Peruvian kings. Today, this same lettuce has been nurtured into sophisticated packages of fresh-cut salad blends and displayed in produce departments.
When World War ll ended, big changes arrived with it. Many trends began to emerge in people's lifestyles, especially with eating habits. This post-war transition period was primarily triggered by the military service people who brought home various types of food experiences from foreign countries in which they had served.
Freedom Fresh joins Pro*Act
MONTEREY, CA -- Pro*Act announced in mid-March that Freedom Fresh LLC in Miami has joined the company's distribution network.
Trinity and Fazio join forces
FRESNO, CA -- Fazio Marketing Inc. and Trinity Fruit Sales Co., both here, have entered into an agreement to create a strategic marketing alliance for the two companies' California table grapes and other products, the two companies announced jointly Wednesday, March 26.
"This new alliance will bring together over 50 years and four generations of grape-growing experience from Fazio Marketing with the diverse marketing programs currently being offered by Trinity Fruit Sales," according to a joint press release announcing the new alliance.
California citrus industry discusses ideas for improving flavor and maturity standards
VISALIA, CA -- California Navel oranges have lost market share to clementines and other Mandarin varieties in recent years during the early part of the traditional Navel season. Many in the industry believe that the reason for the decline is that although Navel oranges, when at their best, remain the U.S. consumer's favorite in the citrus category, the competing citrus varieties in the market simply satisfy consumer tastes better than some of the early- season Navels that are shipped before they are ready.
Food safety and corporate supply on the agenda at CACC meeting
PHILADELPHIA -- "Most businessmen don't mind risks. They mind the unknown," said Philadelphia attorney Aaron Krauss, a partner in the downtown law firm Cozen O'Connor, who will be half of a duo speaking in early April to the Chilean & American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia about the legal ramifications of dealing with the unknown within the food-safety realm.
Also speaking will be Bob Sulick, national director of procurement support for Sodexho Health Care Services, which has a U.S. health-care operation based in Simsbury, CT.
FDA's alert on cantaloupes met by industry backlash
After the Food & Drug Administration issued a March 22 alert that a Salmonella outbreak was possibly tied to cantaloupe from Honduras, the produce industry countered with a firestorm of protest from a variety of interests, including the president of Honduras.
Sage Fruit's second annual display contest takes flight
For the second year, Yakima, WA-based Sage Fruit Co. and its regional retail partners have seen a significant uptick in their apple sales as the result of Sage's produce department display contest.
Sage President Chuck Sinks said that the contest ran from early January through late February and involved approximately two dozen retail stores in the Upper Midwest.