“Our continued goal is to offer customers potatoes that have traveled the least amount of miles, are of high quality, give retailers value and savings and provide the service that today’s consumers are searching out,” Ken Gray, vice president of sales and marketing for the Bushwick Commission in Farmingdale, NY, told The Produce News.

Gray said that the company feels that having a variety of package options gives it an edge. It continues to ship more three-pound packages to its customers.

“According to some of our customers, overall blueberry exports are expected to increase from last year even though Chile suffered a series of frosts that affected a large part of the blueberry growing area,” said 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. “These weather events caused damage, and some growers lost most of their production.

Key Food Stores Co-operative Inc., a chain of independently owned and operated grocery stores, announced the grand opening of its 150th location and introduce a new banner into its supermarket family: Urban Market.

Urban Market can best be described as a hybrid boutique supermarket, creating a unique shopping experience that intertwines full selections of both conventional and specialty items.

Pure Flavor, a leading and innovative greenhouse produce company, has unveiled a new version of its Aurora Bites Mini Peppers and Beefsteak Slicer Tomatoes packaging and design.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will announce Dec. 5 that it is terminating plans for a national leafy greens marketing agreement in light of the new food-safety regulations that have been proposed by the Food & Drug Administration.

The scant, seven-page notice, which will appear in the Federal Register, ends the four-year journey for a national leafy greens handling agreement that started when Western Growers Association and other trade groups petitioned FDA on June 10, 2009, before the Food Safety Modernization Act was enacted.

Turbana’s Growing Smiles, Sharing Goodness movement has gained momentum over the last few months. The Coral Gables, FL-based company kicked off the movement in August 2013 on its Facebook and Twitter pages, encouraging individuals to eat healthy, be active and get more involved in their communities.