Pura Vida Farms, a nation-wide pineapple importer and grower-shipper of melon products based in Scottsdale, AZ, announced Jan. 21 the hire of MIKE MARTORI as vice president of East Coast sales.

Johnston Farms, a fourth-generation family farming operation in Edison, CA, near Bakersfield, started shipping citrus in 1982. So the wintry weather of early January that brought five consecutive nights of sub-freezing temperatures was nothing new, nor was it a drastic setback — but it was a pain in the neck.

Albert’s Organics, headquartered in Santa Cruz, CA, is in the process of preparing for relocations of two of its U.S. facilities, according to Simcha Weinstein, director of marketing for the company.

Tight supplies on yellow squash, green beans, sweet corn and some other commodities from northern Mexico were pushing market prices to unusually high levels in late January and early February due to the lingering effects of a mid-January freeze in southern Sonora and northern Sinaloa, Mexico.

Scott David Grinstead, who was the chief executive officer of Adams Produce Co. in Birmingham, AL, when the company declared bankruptcy last April, has entered into a plea bargain with the U.S. Attorney's office admitting fraud, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Alabama

To-Jo Fresh Mushrooms Inc. has hired Julie West Petrovick as director of marketing. Ms. Petrovick will be responsible for the development and implementation of innovative marketing strategies for both the fresh and food products divisions of the company. She will also be responsible for the company's in-house creative services initiatives.