Ronnie Cohen, vice president of sales for Vision Import Group in River Edge, NJ, told The Produce News that the company has formed a strategic alliance with Ben Brittain, a highly seasoned produce professional, in Pharr, TX.

Robt. T. Cochran & Co. is a produce veteran, both in the trade and on the Hunts Point market.

“We have started offering kilo packages of herbs,” Richard Cochran, president of Robt. T. Cochran & Co., said. “The full line, including basil, rosemary, thyme and others are available in the kilo. We are doing some retail with the package, but the majority is going to the foodservice sector.”

Target Interstate Systems Inc. is expanding both its physical and its online footprint.

Paul Kazan, president of the company, located on the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Cooperative Market in the Bronx, NY, told The Produce News that Target continues to leverage its four-X rating — which it has maintained since the 1980s — in the Blue Book and other rating systems.

Production of quality fresh produce and a strong focus on food safety are hallmarks at Buurma Farms Inc. The history of the multi-generational farming company dates back to its founding in 1896. The company is headquartered in Willard, OH, with farming operations there and in Gregory, MI. Buurma Farms of Georgia LCC grows fresh produce in Claxon, GA.

Tommy Kovacevich, general manager of T.M. Kovacevich Philadelphia Inc., told The Produce News that the company is one of the larger tenants at the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, occupying units A-1 through A-6.

California cantaloupe handlers have voted unanimously to support a mandatory food-safety program that will be implemented by the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board.

The California Department of Food & Agriculture announced the week of May 14 that 100 percent of handlers voting in a statewide referendum are in favor of amending the existing California Cantaloupe Advisory Board to establish the new food-safety program.