Maurice A. Auerbach Inc., a Secaucus, NJ distributor, can’t keep supplies of jumbo asparagus on hand.

“In the past few years our sales of jumbo asparagus have more than doubled,” said Paul Auerbach, president of the company founded by his grandfather more than 80 years ago.  “We’ve sold more units and more dollars.”

With the peak of the Peruvian asparagus season expected to hit its stride in mid-October, the Peruvian Asparagus Importers Association is working with importers preparing for promotional opportunities.  “In today’s marketplace, asparagus trade can only prevail through forethought and strategic planning,” said PAIA Executive Director Priscilla Lleras.

For the past several years, Peruvian asparagus acreage has not been increasing as some growers have switched to other crops. But Alpine Fresh CEO Walter Yager believes that a solid season plus the elimination of the mandatory fumigation requirement on U.S. asparagus imports from Peru could prove to be a renaissance for the commodity.

“For about 50 percent of the year, Peru produces better quality asparagus than Mexico,” he said. “If you eliminate fumigation, Peru will be able to provide better quality for nine months of the year.”

One of the last of his generation of Salinas Valley Iceberg lettuce giants, Tom Nunes (T3) died on Aug. 5 at the age of 95 after a stellar career of twice building prosperous and innovative vegetable grower-packer-shipper organizations, and spending his entire life in the industry.

In an effort to better serve its customers in U.S. ports of entry around the country, Miami-based Advance Customs Brokers International LLC has entered into a strategic partnership with two other customs brokers.

Northern California-based direct distributor Quebec Distributing Co. has named Butch Hill as its new general manager. Hill started in the produce industry in the Golden Gate Produce Terminal in South San Francisco when he was 16 years old and has spent the past 35 years developing his career with several different wholesalers and distributors.