There are big things happening this year at Nash Produce. The 2011-12 sweet potato crop in North Carolina is off to an extraordinary start. Acreage is up, yields are increased and Nash Produce is seeing great volume and quality for this year's crop.

Staying ahead of the curve and continuing its proactive stance, Nash Produce has added numerous new resources to better fulfill its commitment to quality and customer service.

Despite a triple whammy of drought, high temperatures and a freeze last February that will no doubt lead to a slight decrease in the overall crop, Lone Star Citrus Growers in Mission, TX, expects to have plenty of high-quality fruit coming out of its groves this season.

The Edinburg Citrus Association in Edinburg, TX, is growing again, planting new grapefruit and orange acreage and adding to its staff as it makes ready to celebrate its 80th anniversary this season.

The new acreage adds to the several thousand the association already tends, but the new groves will not bear literal fruit for three-to-five years. The new staff, however, will start yielding dividends right away.

Elias Hernandez recently came aboard as grove care manager, after being part of the staff at the Texas A&M University Kingsville Citrus Center.

Marion Tabard, director of marketing for Turbana Corp. in Coral Gables, FL, said that banana growers in Colombia’s Turbo region are recovering from the effects of flooding earlier this year and moving into a period of exceptional banana production.

Pete Carcione, president of Carcione’s Fresh Produce Co. Inc., encourages customers to visit the company at the Golden Gate Produce Terminal in South San Francisco, CA to feast upon Mother Nature’s bounty. “We don’t deliver,” he told The Produce News Sept. 26. “We want customers to come to the terminal to see and smell the produce. Flavors are important.”

Six L’s, a leading field tomato grower based in Immokalee, FL, has changed its name to Lipman. The renaming applies to all divisions of the company, including research and development, farming, processing, repacking and procurement. Its subsidiaries, which include Custom Pak and RediPlants, will now operate under the Lipman name as well.