“We are going to see a delay” of two to three weeks in the start of many spring commodities out of Mexico, due to cold weather in January, said Luis Corella, a salesman in the Nogales, AZ, office of Fresno, CA-based Crown Jewels Produce Co.

But while the products may come in a little later than originally expected, they will come in “with pretty good volume,” he told The Produce News Feb. 8.

A set of core values, which has been passed from generation to generation at Liberty Fruit Co. Inc., has laid a strong business foundation and allowed the company to thrive.

“Service, quality and competitive pricing are what I believe in,” Arnold Caviar, owner and chief executive officer, told The Produce News. “I have always been a believer in hiring good people and paying them well. My people know — from the COO down — I spend money to make money. I have instilled this in my children and employees as a core company value.”

Hundreds of watermelon growers, shippers and industry affiliates took over the Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio, TX, Feb. 20-24 for the National Watermelon Association’s Centennial Celebration and annual convention.

WASHINGTON -- Produce companies may be focusing on changes coming from the new safe-growing standards proposed by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, but another one of its regulations, preventive controls, may have broader effect throughout the produce supply chain, Kathy Means, vice president of government relations and public affairs at the Produce Marketing Association, told FDA officials March 1.

After two rough years, Texas onion growers scaled back acreage by 20 percent this season, but with Northwest storage supplies low and Mexican sweet onions slowed to a trickle, Lone Star State growers are looking at promising markets and great weather that has helped Texas get out of the gate early and make the most out of what is in the ground.

The California Avocado Commission in Irvine, CA, is getting an earlier start in its promotional programs for the 2013 season than it has done for the last several years in support of what is expected to be heavier-than-usual volume in a large crop year.