Ken Green, who spent most of his produce career with the Great A&P Tea Co. Inc., based in Montvale, NJ, has joined J&D Produce Inc. in Edinburg, TX.

Mr. Green said that he was looking for an opportunity with a "quality firm with a high degree of ethical standards. I contacted Jimmy Bassetti, who I have known for a long time, and told him I was looking at the supplier community."

Shortly thereafter, the two men had a deal that will allow Mr. Green to work for the Texas shipper from his New Jersey location.

Foreign citrus suppliers likely will recognize his name and face, but they might do a double-take when he mentions his company.

Bill Weyland, well known in the produce industry and who most recently worked for DNE World Fruit Sales in Fort Pierce, FL, has been named director of imports at Seald-Sweet International. Mr. Weyland, who joined the Vero Beach, FL-based company March 27, will remain in New Jersey and head a marketing office in the New Brunswick area in the central part of the state.

ELTOPIA, WA -- With fresh asparagus acreage in Mexico down by double-digit percentage points, and cool rainy weather flummoxing some California growers early this season, Washington state's estimated 33 percent increase in volume could be met by solid demand and good prices.

FRESNO, CA -- Crown Jewels Marketing & Distribution, here, has recently expanded its staff with the addition of Robbie Mathias and Leslie Telles, both of whom come from families that are heavily involved in the U.S. produce business.

Mr. Mathias is the son of Rob Mathias, president of Crown Jewels. Another uncle, Ryan Mathias, also works for Crown Jewels. Another uncle, Rodney Mathias, works for a tomato company, and his grandfather, Rich Mathias, is a buyer for Sobey's.

Salvatore (Sam) De Franco, who was a partner with his brothers for many years in the produce company his father founded, died of heart failure April 2 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 81.

Mr. De Franco was born May 24, 1924 in San Francisco. In 1929, his family moved to Boston, where his father, Dominic De Franco, founded the New England Tomato Co. A few years later, the family returned to California and settled in Lodi, where they began shipping table grapes to the Eastern Seaboard.

A record volume of Enza's Jazz apples has topped the Vancouver, BC-based Oppenheimer Group's list of highlights for the New Zealand pipfruit season, which is now underway.

Despite anticipating nearly double the 2005 Jazz volume, Oppenheimer Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer John Anderson believes that supply will still not satisfy demand.