WASHINGTON — Funding for federal programs that support fresh produce deliveries to schools is skyrocketing and so are profits for produce companies that have tapped the young market, panelists said in an Oct. 1 session at the United Fresh Produce Association's Washington Public Policy Conference, here.

Boosting kids' consumption of fresh produce and tapping the youth market are priorities for United Fresh and they're paying off. Companies such as Del Monte Fresh Produce, Gold Star Foods and Muir Copper Canyon Farms shared success stories from jumping into the new market.

Cranberries, the iconic North American fall fruit, enjoy a surge in demand leading up to the Thanksgiving Day holiday in November. But when the dinner plates are cleared and the pumpkin pie makes it way to the table, the vibrant red berries have a tendency to fade from view, awaiting their re-emergence the following year.

Fresh cranberries in recent years have been added to the sales offering of Mike Pirrone Produce, based in Capac, MI.

Joe Pirrone, a consultant to Mike Pirrone Produce, said: “We have been in the cranberry business for maybe three years.”  

About two years ago the DeBlouw family bought Mike Pirrone Produce from Joe Pirrone, whose father founded the Capac, MI-based operation in 1951.

When people think of Georgia, they think of peaches. And while the Peach State has not been the nation's top producer in many years volume-wise, when it comes to quality and name recognition, Georgia still earns its nickname. And this year's Georgia peach season looks like it may have been one for the record books.

Sun World International LLC has appointed two companies in Central American and South American agriculture as grape producer-marketer licensees.

Camposol S.A. of Peru and Grupo Alta of Sonora Mexico have been granted rights to produce Sun World grape varieties in their respective countries, to distribute and market their fruit and to use Sun World's brands in the marketplace, David Marguleas, executive vice president of the Bakersfield, CA-based company, said in a press release.

WASHINGTON -- "We're in uncharted waters and we don't see a way out of this," Tom Stenzel, president and chief executive officer of United Fresh Produce Association, said when he took the podium the morning of Oct. 1, referring to the first day of an historic government shutdown.