Thinking outside the box can mean different things to different people. To Atlanta distributor General Produce Inc., it means thinking outside the country.

After a half-century as the Southeast’s premium independent supplier, delivering to 11 states overnight, the company has set its sights even further south with a program partnering with local grocers to open modern supermarkets in the Caribbean islands.

For years, people have looked to Orrin Cope Produce, Inc. in Homestead, FL for top quality fresh Southern vegetables and premium service. Now, they look to Seminole Growers for the same things.

Cope Produce has been a grower agent for many years, and will continue that service as Seminole Growers.

Flavor 1st Growers and Packers in Hendersonville, NC, takes its name very seriously. With a focus on quality, Flavor 1st will soon be bringing sweet corn, Southern vegetables and tomatoes — including the new high-flavor “Tasti-Lee” — to market from its Bainbridge, GA, deal.

Calvert Cullen, president of Northampton Growers, headquartered in Cheriton, VA, told The Produce News in mid-April that some of the company’s Georgia products will be from 10 days to a couple of weeks early this year due to the warm winter and spring weather.

San Miguel Produce, based in Oxnard, CA, introduced a new line of salads and salad kits for spring.

The Flavor Tree Fruit Co. LLC in Hanford, CA, is expecting a “good crop” of its proprietary Sequoia cherry variety, up from last year, and “our Yosemite variety has a good crop as well, so we will see a significant increase in production there,” said Maurice Cameron, managing partner, April 11. In fact, the company is also looking at “a pretty good sized crop” overall.

Flavor Tree is a partnership between Mr. Cameron and the Warmerdam family, which owns Warmerdam Packing in Hanford.