The pressure is on organic apple and pear producers to evaluate and test potential alternatives to replace the use of the antibiotics streptomycin and oxytetracycline to combat the spread of fire blight. The disease not only destroys fruit, it is highly contagious among trees and can decimate  entire orchards.

Construction is under way on a huge new cooling and packing facility in Oxnard, CA, on a 20-acre site a 10-minute drive from the current bursting-at-the-seams facility of Mission Produce Inc. that will not only meet the company’s immediate expansion needs but will provide room for future growth, according to David Fausset, retail sales manager.

“In our old location, there really wasn’t any space to grow,” he said March 17. “We wanted to build something with enough capacity at the beginning that we can actually grow into.”

Frank Ramos and his wife and partner, Ana, of The Perishable Specialist Inc., a leading customs broker headquartered in Miami, FL, said that the company is available to its customers seven days a week, 24-hours a day, every day of the year.

“Delivering perishables to their destination in the best possible condition means that they must move as quickly and efficiently as humanly possible — and that’s what we mean to accomplish every day of the year,” said Ramos.

Organics Unlimited, based in San Diego, announced Alberto Ramirez Rivera as its new general manager of production at Rancho El Tesoro, the company-owned banana farms in southern Mexico.

Rivera is a former GROW scholar who graduated in 2012 from the University of Colima with a major in agronomy. In his new position, he will be responsible for the quality of the fruit, from planting through harvesting.

Sunkist Growers Inc., based in Sherman Oaks, CA, has begun shipping its California-sourced Star Ruby grapefruit and should have good supplies of this item through July. “Sunkist’s California Star Ruby crop is very strong this year, with fruit showing exceptional color and great taste even early in the season,” said Joan Wickham, Sunkist’s advertising and public relations manager.

Weis Markets announced that its third annual Believe in Heroes campaign has raised $115,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that grows awareness and enlists public support for the needs of injured service members.

Weis Markets’ program ran throughout the month of November and raised money through customers purchasing select brand name products, WWP bracelets, magnets, reusable tote bags and through monetary donations.