South Africa citrus season underway
GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ -- The South African citrus import season is officially underway, as evidenced by the bright red refrigerated bulk cargo ship Indian Reefer disgorging pallets of South African citrus on June 8, here, at the Gloucester City Marine Terminal.
Packaged Fiesole artichokes now available from Legacy Farms
Colorful Fiesole artichokes are being packaged and marketed exclusively by Legacy Farms, a Buena Park, CA-based grower, packer and distributor. It is the first value-added produce item to carry the "Legacy" brand.
The Fiesole variety, featuring a dark purple color, originated in the European growing areas of Provence in France, and Tuscany and Veneto in Italy, and is now grown along the central coast of California.
Market Fresh offering sweet onion consistency
Consolidation, branding, consistency, consumer-friendly packaging and globalization - Market Fresh Produce LLC, based in the Kansas City suburb of Lee's Summit, MO, is integrating all these benefits for sweet onion buyers.
Steve Phipps, principal owner and director of sales and marketing for Market Fresh Produce, said, "Our focus on this onion program is to come to market with a consistent trade brand of sweet onions to where the retailer could embrace the packaging."
AnnMarie O'Malley of Co-op Partners keeps it organic
For AnnMarie O'Malley, her position as a buyer for Co-op Partners, a wholesale warehouse in St. Paul, MN, that deals mostly in organics, is in itself organic -- an integral part of the whole. Ms. O'Malley, 26, graduated from the University of Wisconsin- Superior in 2003 with degrees in art and social work. While acknowledging her studies might appear unrelated to her chosen career path, that isn't really the case, she said, "because the business I work for is organics, and its practices are very ethically responsible."
CPMA's first-ever webinar addresses produce traceability
Traceability, a hot issue in the produce industry, made for an appropriate topic for the Canadian Produce Marketing Association's first ever webinar held June 13.
Sundia and Weyerhaeuser ink new purchasing agreement
Utilizing the purchasing power it has gained from representing over 30 percent of the U.S. watermelon supply, Sundia Corp. has signed an agreement with Weyerhaeuser on behalf of Sundia's grower-partners.
West Side melon deal set to launch
Inclement weather has delayed the start of this year's West Side melon deal in California, and production will be slightly off that of 2005, according to those involved with the deal.
J.D. Allen, assistant manager of the Cantaloupe Advisory Board, said that this year's estimate on the West Side melon deal is 20 million cartons of cantaloupes in 30- or 40-pound cartons, down from last year's production of 22.2 million cartons.
New Jersey Department of Agriculture hosts EPC meeting
WOODCLIFF LAKE, NJ -- New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Charles M. Kuperus led a delegation of produce specialists to the June 13 meeting of the Eastern Produce Council, updating EPC members on how the state's crops were looking as the 2006 season was ramping up.
In summary, the season for most items started a bit early, quality on the early vegetables has been very good, and the forecast for later vegetables and all fruit items is for continued excellent quality and sizing.
Long-time NewStar executive to lead sales at Bengard Ranch
Bengard Ranch, a leading provider of premium vegetables based in Salinas, CA, announced that it has hired Jesse Gomez as executive vice president of sales and marketing. He will be responsible for managing the daily sales and marketing functions of the company and will be charged with leading Bengard Ranch to a stronger national position across various segments of the industry.
Australian citrus in place for early delivery
DNE World Fruit Sales will soon kick off the 2006 summer import season with high-quality Australian citrus. Initial shipments of Aussie Navels will begin June 28.
"Charter loads usually begin shipping July 6," Stu Monaghan, national sales manager for DNE, said in a statement. "This season, early fruit maturity is resulting in the first June startup in the program's history, and DNE is taking advantage of the window with container shipments."