The California Avocado Commission board of directors honored commission President Mark Affleck at its March meeting on the very day marking his 20- year anniversary as chief executive officer. The surprise ceremony featured 17 speakers, including board members, past board chairmen, commission employees and leaders who have worked with Mr. Affleck as he piloted the California avocado industry through a series of challenges and two decades of increased grower value.

Frederick G. Tobi, who founded The Tobi Co. in Tampa, FL, and served as its president until retiring in 1986, died March 24. He was 87.

Mr. Tobi founded The Tobi Co., also known as Tobi Brokerage Co., in 1947 after retiring to Tampa following an esteemed career in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

This month marks the 10th anniversary for Bart Minor in his role as president and chief executive officer of the Mushroom Council.

The decade for the council, based in Dublin, CA, has seen a dramatic ebb and flow.

The Santa Maria, CA, area located in Santa Barbara County has plenty of advantages for produce growers, with its excellent ground and long growing season.

In recent years Salinas, CA-based Pacific International Marketing has been increasing its acreage in Santa Maria by 5-10 percent annually, said Melinda Richardson, PIM's director of marketing.

Supreme Cuts LLC in Mahwah, NJ, announced that Merle Axelrod has joined the firm as its president. Ms.

Axelrod will be overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company, which has grown into a leading processor and distributor of fresh, pre-cut vegetables for both the retail and foodservice markets.

After an eventful Chilean fruit season, importers are hoping for some stability as the deal winds down into the spring with apples and kiwifruit.

Early Chilean apple imports had been arriving in the Philadelphia area for two weeks when Ron Dandrea spoke to The Produce News March 19.

Mr. Dandrea, who is vice president of Dandrea Produce, based in Buena, NJ, said that his firm's Chilean apple volume this spring will be up about 20 percent from 2007, but buyers should expect "smaller sizing, at least on the front end of the deal."