Tad Thompson, a veteran produce industry journalist who most recently worked as business development manager at the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, announced that he has formed a new consultancy, Globalview Consulting LLC.

Sage Fruit Co., headquartered in Yakima, WA, will talk about a number of exciting marketing programs during Southern Exposure 2013. The company will be available at booth 1014 and will be represented by Chuck Sinks, president of sales and marketing; Chuck Yow, vice president of sales for the Southeastern region; and Kevin Steiner, vice president of sales for the Northeast.

The Little Potato Co., based in Edmonton, AB, owns the exclusive rights to six varieties of smalls — with several more in the pipeline. Co-founders and father-and-daughter team Jacob van der Schaaf and Angela Santiago are always on the search for new and unique little potatoes, earning them the nickname of Global Potato Hunters.

“When my dad came to Canada from Holland, he couldn’t find the potatoes he’d grown up with,” said Ms. Santiago, chief executive officer.

The Canadian Horticultural Council’s Potato Committee will be meeting during the CHC’s annual general meeting to be held in Ottawa March 12-15. Topics the committee will likely address during the annual meeting include regulatory and trade issues, plant health, research and food safety. Members of the committee and the chair of the Canadian Potato Council will also be appointed at the annual general meeting.

LoBue Citrus has begun shipments of its Heritage Reserve Navel oranges for the third season. Heritage Reserve Navels are grown on mature trees that produce naturally great-tasting fruit that is packed to order by LoBue Citrus, based in Lindsay, CA.

Federal and state government officials do not anticipate groundwater supplies from the Columbia River will be adversely affected by the seepage of radioactive waste from storage tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in south-central Washington.