Daniela Ferro, communication coordinator for Mastronardi “Sunset,” a leading grower of high-quality greenhouse produce headquartered in Kingsville, ON, will be exhibiting at Booth No. 631 at the CPMA Annual Convention and Trade Show in Vancouver, BC, on April 2-4.

“We will have strong representation from our sales, marketing and packaging team at the show,” said Ferro. “‘Sunset’ will be promoting our line of amazingly sweet tomatoes, which includes the ‘Zima,’ ‘One Sweet’ and ‘Angel Sweet.’

While Herndon Farms of Lyons, GA, is best-known for its “Vidalia’s Finest” sweet onions, its product line is actually quite diverse and drawing more attention every day even as Vidalia season approaches.

The anchor crop Vidalias were looking good in mid-March and barring complications should make for an excellent deal, according to Sales and Marketing Manager John Williams.

We’ve got a good stand today so we’re proud of it,” Williams said. “The onions are nice and clean and we don’t see a lot of disease pressure — we’re just keeping our fingers crossed.”

Mexico has the potential to be a game-changer within the global blueberry business due to its long season, innovative growers, new varieties and proximity to the huge counter-seasonal market of the United States.

That was just one of the take-home messages from the International Blueberry Organization's fourth annual summit, held the second week of March in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Delbert Bland is excited, and the owner of Bland Farms LLC in Glennville, GA, has good reason to be: He has a great stand of Vidalia onions coming in and the product line of subsidiary Vidalia Brands has new entries that are finding homes in supermarkets everywhere.

But Bland is still cautious.

When John Shuman and his brothers, Mark and Ben, were growing up, they could count on being busy six months of the year helping their dad Buck with his Vidalia onion crop. These days, it is always onion season at Shuman Produce Inc. of Reidsville, GA, which has grown into one of the largest providers of sweet onions in the world.

Though Shuman now grows and ships onions from around the Western Hemisphere, Vidalia is still the crown jewel of the operation and this time of year is always special.

The United Fresh Produce Association is now accepting nominations to help select an honoree to speak at the annual Reception Honoring Women in Produce, Thursday, June 12 at the United Fresh 2014 convention in Chicago.

Each year, United Fresh recognizes the contributions of all women working in the produce industry and honors one outstanding female industry leader at this reception.