JEFF WEAVER recently joined Selma, CA-based Poindexter Nut Co. as manager of retail and produce development.

With the new plant expansion at Poindexter Nut Co., and the continued growth of their retail brand, Mr. Weaver will be in charge of sales growth in the packaged nut line, which is expected to double in the next three years.

Mr. Weaver recently graduated Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo with a degree in agricultural business and was introduced to the produce industry through several internships. He has been working in the industry for two years.

Curry & Co. has formed an exclusive multi-year partnership with Suncrest Produce Solutions LLC, based in Lake Wales, FL, that will enhance the Brooks, OR-based company’s year-round sweet onion program.

Suncrest, which is owned by 20-year industry veteran Jason Turner, is a large importer of Peruvian sweet onions. The partnership brings these imports into the fold of Curry & Co.’s 52-week vertically integrated sweet onion program.

More than 200 containers of Peruvian sweet onions will be shipped this coming fall and winter in this partnership.

Following what seemed like a late spring and colder-than-normal temperatures, Mother Nature did an about-face in early May and provided sunshine and temperatures up to 80 degrees F. The result was that Michigan apples began blooming at about the normal date, if not two or three days sooner.

The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas held its annual membership meeting May 7 in Nogales, AZ. This year’s meeting had several significant highlights:

Meijer, a Grand Rapids, MI-based retailer with supercenters and grocery stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, will mark a milestone May 16 with the opening of its 200th store.

On May 3, Calvert Cullen, president of Northampton Growers, headquartered in Cheriton, VA, told The Produce News that Florida “got hammered” with rain during the previous couple of days.

“We were finished there, but some of our neighbors still have things in the ground,” said Mr. Cullen. “Rainfall ranged from nine to 12 inches in one day, not including what we got earlier in the week. Most growers are close to being done, but there is definitely some damage done to what was still there.”