On Saturday, April 1, the Produce for Better Health Foundation held its National Excellence Award Luncheon in San Francisco to announce the winners of its crystal awards, and Melissa's had the honor of being awarded the Diamond Crystal Award, the highest honor of all the PBH 2005 National Excellence Awards.

VANCOUVER, BC -- Smart Technology/LLS Canada thinks it may have built a better clamshell, and its own early tests suggest it might be on to something.

Oliver, BC-based Smart Technology rolled out the clamshell at the 81st annual Canadian Produce Marketing Association's convention and exposition, held here March 22-25.

When it comes to the produce industry, Robert Sanders really knows the ropes.

The 29-year-old salesman and buyer with Ben B. Schwartz & Sons, a wholesaler on the Detroit Union Produce Terminal, has been working in the trade since he was a teenager and has been exposed to the business since he was a preschooler hanging out - and helping out - in his uncle's fruit market.

SALINAS, CA -- Kim Greer, president and chief executive officer of the National Steinbeck Center, died March 28 at his home in Monterey. He was 49.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced March 23 that it was delaying the decision on import duties for Chinese garlic for the 2006-07 season for at least one month as it was not "practicable" to complete the analysis in the time initially allotted.

Philadelphia-area importers of Chilean apples said that while the Chilean deal is behind schedule, the storage apple deal of Washington state is also running behind. So it is expected that the Chilean apple imports will begin to increase as Washington cold storages clean up.