In celebration of a long-term relationship that brings South African citrus to U.S. consumers, Walmart kicked off a week-long celebration of South Africa for consumers at Walmart stores throughout the Northeast region.

Walmart executives and leaders of South Africa's Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum kicked off the celebration at a "Taste of South Africa" event Oct. 12 at the Walmart Supercenter in Levittown, PA.

Blue Book Services, the leading credit and marketing information agency for the produce industry, will launch its New Hire Academy, a program designed to help new employees learn industry fundamentals.

"If the produce industry was ever simple, it's not simple today," Jim Carr, president and owner of Blue Book Services, based in Carol Stream, IL, said in a press release. "There's always more to learn, and for a new hire it can be especially challenging. We wanted to help our member companies, as well as newly hired individuals, meet on-the-job challenges and succeed."

Heeren Bros. Inc., one of Michigan's larger family-owned wholesalers, marketers and distributors of fresh fruits and vegetables, announced it will break ground on a new $22 million state-of-the-art facility in Alpine Township this month.

Scottsdale, AZ-based Pura Vida Farms, a nationwide pineapple importer and a grower-shipper of melon products, announced the selection of SHAWN AVERA as its new director of watermelon operations for the eastern region.

With larger crops coming out of Mexico for the 2012-13 season, Calavo Growers Inc. in Santa Paula, CA, is "making really good use" of an expanded capacity in its avocado packinghouse in Michoacan, Mexico, according to Rob Wedin, vice president of fresh sales.

The packinghouse expansion "has been very successful," Mr. Wedin told The Produce News Oct. 2, about two months into the new season. "We've got modern packing equipment in, and ... we can accelerate our packing there as the California crop drops off."

On Oct. 9, Bob Davis, president of Maine Farmers Exchange, commonly referred to as MFX, in Presque Isle, ME, told The Produce News that table stock harvesting in the state was 85 percent complete.

“We have had some rain in the past week,” said Mr. Davis. “We could wrap up harvesting in a couple of days if the weather holds. Growers here have from September 15 to October 15 to get their potatoes out of the ground. With a little luck, we could be wrapped up in the next three to four days.”