Dole Fresh Vegetables moving to Monterey
Dole Fresh Vegetables is moving its offices from Salinas, CA, to Monterey, CA, beginning this summer. Dole will shift employees from 639 S. Sanborn Road in Salinas to 2959 Monterey-Salinas Highway in Monterey. The move will place about 180 office employees under one roof instead of the current setup at the Dole site in Salinas with multiple buildings.
Dole Fresh Vegetables is a division of Dole Food Co. Inc.
Red Blossom Farms adds growers
Laura Wieking leaving Pear Bureau Northwest
After nearly four years as public relations manager for the Pear Bureau Northwest, Laura Wieking announced in mid-May that she is leaving the position, effective June 2.
Ms. Wieking joined the bureau as its PR manager in September 2002, and she said that the decision to depart the organization was a difficult one.
Her new job, which will be part time, is communications manager with the Credit Union Association of Oregon. She said that logistics factored into the move, and the CUAO offices are a shorter commute from her home and her family.
IPC ads win top honors
The Idaho Potato Commission's recent advertising campaign in the consumer, retail and foodservice arenas in both print and television mediums has been awarded four prestigious "Best of NAMA" awards (one national, three regional). The Santa Barbara, CA-based National Agri-Marketing Association's Best of NAMA awards competition recognizes excellence in creative agri-marketing communications and is a hallmark of distinction in the agricultural advertising industry.
USDA block grant proposal elicits comments but not controversy
The consumer press has labeled it a "food fight," but produce industry representatives say there is no fundamental disagreement about regulations concerning the allocation of federally funded specialty crop block grants.
Mushrooms riding wave of popularity
With people getting ready to fire up their grills during the summer barbecue season, mushroom producers are preparing for the spike in popularity of their already-popular products that comes during this time of year. In preparation, some of the top marketers are launching new varieties and products that they hope will help increase their own sales as well as lift the category as a whole. What is good for one competitor is good for the whole mushroom category, according to Joe Caldwell, vice president of Watsonville, CA-based Monterey Mushrooms.
Produce managers tell it like it is during United session
CHICAGO -- Eleven retail produce managers were front and center to answer questions about what makes their departments successful and to share stories about their customers' behavior during an education session held here May 6 at the United Produce Expo & Conference. The session was moderated by Steve Lutz of the Perishables Group.
Mr. Lutz noted that the panel, all winners of United's Retail Produce Manager Awards Program, were selected from nominations submitted from across the country and are among the better produce managers in the United States.
Labor specialist lays out history, hope for immigration reform
SALINAS, CA -- The push for immigration reform has taken center stage on the U.S. national scene, and all that activity suggests a political willpower to make reform happen.
That was the message -- with qualifications and some reservations -- expressed by Howard Rosenberg, cooperative extension specialist in agricultural labor management for the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics at the University of California at Berkeley.
FMI considering changes to its show
CHICAGO -- The Food Marketing Institute is considering a number of changes to its annual supermarket show, which is currently held every year in early May here at McCormick Place -- and which for the last three years has included the annual convention of the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association.
FMI announced in a May 6 statement "consideration of the board's Long Range Planning Committee recommendation that the FMI show shift to an alternating format and rotating venues beginning in 2008."
HAB launches International Marketing Committee
The Hass Avocado Board's new marketing committee launched its campaign to strengthen promotion synergy among all suppliers at an inaugural strategy session in late April. Formed in early 2006, the committee has avocado industry representatives from California, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand and the Dominican Republic.
HAB upgrades global produce intranet site
CHICAGO -- In the year-and-a-half since it was launched, avoHQ.com, the Hass Avocado Board's global produce intranet, continues to be a leader in global produce communications. During the United Produce Show, held here May 5-9, the board announced additions to the site that it said will add further functionality to the way data on avocado movement are used.