Columbia Fresh Produce, based in Walla Walla, WA, announced the hire of Rick Bella as director of business development and marketing on Jan. 16.

With an eye on expanding its market and buoyed by strong demand, Organics Unlimited has increased its organic banana acreage.

“Organics Unlimited is an organic banana grower in Mexico, and we also pack and import all of our bananas to the United States for distribution there,” said Mayra Velazquez de Leon, who, with her husband, Manuel, owns and operates Organics Unlimited in San Diego. “Distribution is from our warehouse in San Diego, where we sell to both chains who have ripening capabilities and wholesalers who ripen.”

This season, Sunkist is joining forces with NBC’s hit series, “The Biggest Loser,” through a promotional licensing agreement with NBC Universal Television Consumer Products and Shine America to inspire consumers to make healthier choices, like incorporating fresh citrus into their diet. “The Biggest Loser,” now in its 15th season, is a motivational weight-loss competition reality series in which overweight contestants compete to reach a healthier weight through the adoption of a healthier lifestyle. “The Biggest Loser” airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on NBC.

Eric and Ryan Jensen, the brothers who owned the defunct Jensen Farms in Holly, CO, were sentenced to six months of home detention, five years of probation and 100 hours of community service by a federal magistrate in Denver. The brothers were also ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution.

The Jensens had asked that they not be sentenced to time in prison, and the request was supported by the U.S. Attorney’s office.

WASHINGTON — Many farm programs will feel the pain of the budget axe, but the just-released farm bill agreement shows that Congress was especially generous to specialty crop programs, which received a whopping 55 percent bump from the 2008 farm bill.

Congress released the long-fought farm bill agreement Jan. 27, and an up-and-down vote on the conference report is expected this week.

Joe Caputo & Sons Fruit Market IGA, owner of three full-service IGA grocery stores in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, has acquired four former Dominick’s locations also in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

The stores were taken over by Joe Caputo & Sons Fruit Market IGA on Jan. 25. Conversion of two stores is expected to begin immediately with anticipated opening dates at the end of March or early April. Another location will open shortly thereafter, and the fourth location will be up and running by the end of the year.