Westlake Produce Co., headquartered in Los Angeles, with East Coast operations in Winter Haven, FL, expects to move 2.5 million pounds of Florida blueberries this season with a great crop and superb sizing already on the bush.

Westlake’s Florida deal could begin as early as mid-March barring any damage from a mild March 4 freeze that nipped at the edges of central Florida groves. The deal should reach volume by April 1.

The three arms of Vision Produce Co. launched a new mango program a year ago, and this year it is paying dividends.

Ben Brittain, executive vice president of the Texas arm, which goes by the moniker Vision Produce Partners of Texas, is anticipating a 30 percent increase in Mexican mango volume this year.

He said the companies, which include Vision Produce Co. in Los Angeles and Vision Import Group in River Edge, NJ, have their own buyers and quality-control people in place in Mexico to implement the model.

STEPHAN ECKEL joined Santa Paula, CA-based Calavo Growers as senior account manager Feb.11.

Mr. Eckel first got his start in produce when the construction industry took a downturn in the late 80s, leading him to start working in a cooler in Oceanside, CA, for Calberi where he loaded trucks and learned to speak Spanish. Twenty-three years later, he is a produce industry veteran.

Analyzing scan data from almost 3,800 California supermarkets, the latest Market Report from the Fresh Produce & Floral Council showed that fresh fruit and vegetable sales volume grew by 4 percent in 2012 while there was a 1 percent increase in retail dollar sales.

Arvin, CA-based Kern Ridge Growers LLC has experienced good growth in its carrot operation over the past year for a variety of reasons, including diversity within its carrot offerings as well as the inclusion of navel oranges as a companion shipping item.

Cottle Strawberry Nursery Inc. in Faison, NC, has been in the berry business for three generations. This year it will enter the Florida blueberry deal with its own “Cottle Farms” label for the first time.

“We’ve brokered berries here for years but this will be our first year being in control of the fruit and picking where we want to go and when and how,” said President Ron Cottle.

The decision to get into the Florida blueberry deal was easy, Mr. Cottle said.