John Lazopoulos at DNE in perfect timing with firm's growth strategies
A 30-year veteran in the fresh food industry, John Lazopoulos Jr. joined DNE World Fruit Sales, headquartered in Fort Pierce, FL, in early August. He will serve the company as import manager of Spanish and Moroccan clementines.
Macias teams up with FRUSA to market one of California's earlier Navel deals
MARICOPA, CA -- Grower Keith Mori, owner of FRUSA Cal. Corp. in Los Angeles, is "the finest grower I have ever seen, and I have worked for an awful lot of growers," said Richard Spalding, sales manager at FRUSA. "I have worked for some amazing [growers]. I have worked for Sam Perricone. I have worked for Blue Banner. I have worked for Bee Sweet, [and Mr. Mori] is by far, hands down, the finest grower I have seen. The fruit is just spectacular" in size, color and quality.
PMA announces multi-faceted food safety program
SAN DIEGO -- Produce Marketing Association President Bryan Silbermann announced Oct. 21 that the association's board of directors approved the outline of a comprehensive new program to ensure consumers' continued confidence in the safety of produce.
At its annual meeting, held Oct. 20 here at PMA's Fresh Summit, the board authorized $1 million in new funds to be allocated over the next 14 months to a four-pronged program designed to reinforce existing and determine new industry standards for food safety that extend from field to fork.
RETAIL VIEW: San Diego offers mix of chains and independents
The San Diego retail supermarket scene, like the community itself, is very diverse and offers a wide range of options for both the discerning and the discount shopper.
Kenfield departs Ripe 'N Ready, takes VP slot at SunFed
Steve Kenfield, who spent the last several years as president of Ripe 'N Ready in Parlier, CA, has moved to Nogales, AZ, to take a position as vice president of sales and marketing with SunFed.
"I have known [SunFed founder] Danny [Mandel] for a long time," said Mr. Kenfield. "We worked together way back when I was with Amerifresh" in Seattle.
Pinos Produce close to completing transition to shade house production
Five years ago, Pinos Produce Inc. in San Diego, which grows tomatoes and cucumbers in Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, undertook a program to transition all of its production from the open field into shade houses. It was envisioned as a five-year program, with "more and more" shade houses being built each year "until we had 100 percent shade houses," and it is "right on schedule," said Daniel Uribe, sales manager.
Ready Pac to idle plant
As a result of softening marketing conditions, Irwindale, CA-based Ready Pac Produce Inc. will idle its salad-processing plant in Plymouth, IN, next month. Steve Dickstein, vice president of marketing for Ready Pac, said that the plant would be idled Nov. 9. Production at the facility will return when market conditions warrant it, he said.
Salyer American adds to its sales team
Salyer American Fresh Foods Inc., based in Salinas, CA, announced the hiring of Todd S. Pearson to its sales team. Mr. Pearson will be involved with developing new business and servicing Salyer American's midwestern and national accounts.
Baloian expands facility to accommodate ongoing growth
FRESNO, CA -- "We are in a growth pattern," said Tim Baloian, president of Baloian Farms, here. "We need more space. We increase volume steadily," and during certain months of the year, "the facility we are in is way too small. So we needed more physical space."
To meet those immediate needs and to accommodate anticipated future growth, the company began construction about a year ago on a 50,000- square-foot cold storage facility that is now nearing completion. Already, some of the new cold rooms were in use when The Produce News visited the facility in late September.
Merger brings together two Florida tropical specialists
Two Homestead, FL-based tropical produce specialists have combined forces to provide greater resources and enhanced service to their growing customer base as Fresh King Inc. has acquired C-Brand Tropicals Inc.
"Our customers now have a wider selection and greater resources to choose from, more convenience and more volume availability," Peter Schnebly, co- owner of Fresh King, said in a press release. "The synergies created through the combination of the two companies have already yielded exciting results."