CHRISTOPHER DYER joined The Oppenheimer Group’s Houston, TX-based sales team as a business development representative in late February.

As the spring onion crops from California, Texas and Vidalia get going over the next several weeks, they should be greeted by a strong market, which some believe could be very hot while others are tempering their enthusiasm.

Tracy Fowler, general manager of L&M Cos. Inc., which is headquartered in Raleigh, NC, but has onion operations in multiple states, said that storage supplies out of the Northwest are as low as they have been in many years and that could mean a very strong market moving forward.

The Canadian Produce Marketing Association and the Canadian Horticultural Council have a joint call to action for their members: strengthen the voice of the produce industry by engaging with Members of Parliament. To that end, June 24-28 has been designated Advocacy Week.

Alpine Fresh Inc., a grower-packer-shipper of blueberries headquartered in Miami, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony March 28 to celebrate the opening of a new blueberry packingshed with Five Star Family Growers, based in Auburndale, FL.

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In an effort to distinguish itself in the premium apple category, Rainier Fruit Co. based in Yakima, WA, has focused its attention on the science needed to deliver a consistently high quality product to the marketplace.

"The Zirkle family applied their decades of apple-growing knowledge to Honeycrisp upon its public release in 2000," said Suzanne Wolter, director of marketing for Rainier Fruit. "Honeycrisp are widely regarded as the most difficult apple to grow, store and pack."