On Nov. 27, Nelly Yunta, vice president of sales, marketing and customer care, liner and logistics business groups for Crowley Maritime Corp. in Jacksonville, FL, and vice president of Customized Brokers, the customs brokerage and consulting division located in Miami, said although the primary produce items the company sees coming into the United States at any time of year varies depending on the region or country of origin, it is currently handling a considerable volume of tomatoes and okra.

Pacific Tomato Growers is expecting to increase its grape tomato production in Mexico by 10-15 percent this year while keeping its round and Roma production at about the same level as last year.

When the TV camera pans to the scoreboard during the 100th edition of the Rose Bowl football game on New Year’s Day, a digital sign will show the PassionRoses logo. When the camera focuses on the Rose Bowl trophy, it will be adorned with some of the finest roses in the world: PassionRoses. Ditto for media events and formal ceremonies preceding the game.

SunFed in Nogales, AZ, which significantly expanded its organic category last season with new items and increased volume on the organic items the company was already handling, has continued that expansion of its organic program for the 2013-14 season, according to Matt Mandel, vice president of sales and marketing.

In “our entire line of ‘SunFed Perfect Organics,’ we keep adding both volume and product lines to the mix,” he said.

While Florida citrus growers have had to battle greening disease over the past decade with shrinking annual production, some are finding a way to take a tough situation and turn it just peachy.

Greening (also known as Huanglongbing or HLB) affects production in bearing groves, and the only solution for a severely infected grove is destruction. Florida has lost thousands of acres of citrus groves over the past decade — prime agricultural land sitting fallow.

The Houston Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association held its 27th annual Gift of Produce event Dec. 13 and presented the Houston Food Bank with a gift of 2 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables, to be distributed to the food bank's 600 partner agencies serving 18 southeastern Texas counties.

This amount is equivalent to more than 4 million servings of fruits and vegetables for those in need of food assistance.