United and SPC to partner on regional 'Educational Road Show'
The United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association and the Southeast Produce Council announced that they will join forces in a series of regional educational programs for their members.
The SPC is rolling out its new "Educational Road Show" program developed in partnership with United to reach out to the organizations' members in various cities throughout the Southeast. United will work with SPC to develop quality education programs and bring in expert speakers.
Agreement brings grapes into Birds Eye Fresh fold
Fresh grapes will be branded under the "Birds Eye Fresh" label as the result of a new marketing agreement reached Sept. 23 between Rochester, NY-based Birds Eye Foods and Pandol Associates Marketing Inc. in Delano, CA.
Lyn Hughes, senior marketing manager for Birds Eye Fresh, told The Produce News that the company had been looking to add grapes to its product line for some time, and that she and Jim Pandol of Pandol Associates initiated talks last May during the United Produce Show in Chicago.
Idaho potato acreage is down 10 percent as growers see better prices on early harvest
There were just too many potatoes on the market.
Freeport is OK for banana trade
"Freeport is intact and appears to have weathered Hurricane Rita relatively well," Mike Mitchell, director of corporate communications for Chiquita Brands International Inc. in Cincinnati, said Sept. 26, The port of Freeport [in Texas] has told us that the ship channel is currently open for daylight vessel movements. They are awaiting survey results from the U.S. Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers, but reports indicate that the ship channel is expected to be open sometime Tuesday [the Sept. 27] or Wednesday for 24-hour traffic.
Chile freeze may prove beneficial as crop thinner
PHILADELPHIA The extent of fruit damage from a freeze in Chilean vineyards and orchards on, and to a lesser extent before, Sept. 12 remains something of a mystery. Scattered areas in Chile had a freeze on Sept. 12, but there were lesser freezes in the country running from late August until Sept. 12.
Jim Pandol of Pandol Associates Marketing Inc. in Delano, CA, said Sept. 27 that the impact of the cold weather on Chile's fruit exports will be "significant but not disastrous."
PMA develops member guide to amended hours of service regulations
Building on its commitment to helping its members understand transportation issues critical to the fresh produce industry, particularly the recently amended U.S. Department of Transportation hours of service rules, the Produce Marketing Association released via its web site a question-and-answer guide to the new regulations. These regulations went into effect Oct. 1.
Mike Casazza heads in a fresh direction
Mike Casazza has been changing keys within the produce industry for a few years now. The 27-year-old aspiring musician works as a sales manager at Fresh Directions International, an avocado house in Ventura, CA. Mr. Casazza grew up in the small farming town of Hughson, CA, and was exposed to the trade at an early age. "I have family that's involved," he said. But the way I got fully involved was when my father was a vice president at Del Monte.
Wholesalers pool their talents at Fresh Green
SAN FRANCISCO -- When Ray Mah, Joe Thomas and Steve Ng joined their three separate businesses to form Fresh Green on the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market, it was a decision based more on the future than the present.
"None of the businesses were in any trouble," said Mr. Thomas, formerly president of DeMattei Bros. "We just said, 'Let's try it.' All of us are hard workers, so we knew that wouldn't enter into the picture.
VegiWorks Inc. grows thriving business from humble origins
SAN FRANCISCO -- Shing Ho took his background in catering for renowned San Francisco-based Bill Graham Presents and fashioned a wholesale produce company -- VegiWorks Inc. -- that delivers fresh produce to its clients.
Project: Re-Leaf helps raise $17,000 for Hurricane Katrina relief
TORONTO -- In a little under four hours, a fund drive held Sept. 23 at the Ontario Food Terminal, here, raised over $17,000 in Canadian funds for Hurricane Katrina relief.
Project: Re-Leaf was designed to show the Canadian produce industry's support for those suffering in the wake of massive Hurricane Katrina, which hit the U.S. Gulf Coast in late August.