Dumping issues among the United States, Canada and Mexico are nothing new, but a pending renewal of a dispute would be the third such major legal entanglement in a decade. On June 29, just after The Produce News went to press, a meeting of the North American Tomato Trade Working Group was called to order in Guadalajara, Mexico. The organization, formed by the industry in March 2002, is designed to act as a forum to discuss tomato-related trade issues before they become serious legal problems. At the top of this meeting's agenda is a burgeoning dumping accusation that U.S. organizations are

Ruth Sanders, a former board member of Mendelson-Zeller and the founder of Sierra View Sales Inc. in Fresno, CA, died June 21 after a prolonged illness. She was 71. Born Sept. 6, 1934, in Omaha, NE, Ms. Sanders worked as a dispatcher for a trucking company for about three years before moving to California in 1958. "Within a couple of years" after arriving in California "she went to work for Mendelson-Zeller," one of the larger produce companies in California at the time, recalled her son, J.D. Ward. She started there as a truck dispatcher on the Los Angeles market and continued working for

PALM DESERT, CA -- More than 200 members of the California Women for Agriculture, farmers and supporters gathered at Palm Valley Country Club June 22 to honor Chuck Hodges, managing partner of Prime Time International, as Agriculturist of the Year. Mr. Hodges, with partners Carl Sam Maggio and Mark Nickerson, merged marketing and farming companies to form Prime Time International in 1992. Prior to that, he was vice president of sales and marketing for Sun World before forming CH Sales in 1991. Mr. Hodges and his wife, Gayle, have been longtime supporters and members of the California Women for

Irwindale, CA-based Ready Pac Produce announced the hiring of three new senior-level executives to strengthen its sales team. Garry Granger joined Ready Pac as senior vice president of foodservice sales, Stephen Bonaro came on board in the newly created position of division vice president of retail sales for the Central Region, and Alan Ediger is now vice president of retail sales for the Western Division. They will report directly to Allan Sabatier, executive vice president of sales and marketing. Mr. Granger brings over 30 years of sales, marketing, operations and foodservice experience to

NEW YORK -- If I were rating my favorite ways to spend an afternoon, participating as a judge in a culinary contest consisting of recipes featuring fresh Florida tomatoes would be near the top of the list. And that's exactly what I had the privilege and pleasure of doing June 22 for the Florida Tomato Committee's "Fresh Florida Tomato Contest: 'Best of the Best' Culinary Student Recipes." The event was held at Lewis & Neale Inc. Strategic Food Communications, a public relations firm here. The judging panel knows its peas and cukes (and tomatoes) when it comes to fresh vegetables. It included

The California Avocado Commission, based in Irvine, announced that record levels of avocado shipments occurred in May, with Cinco de Mayo and Memorial Day shipments reaching all-time highs. The record-breaking trend continued into June with the second week of June recording an all-time high one-week tally of avocado shipments of just over 22 million pounds. This year's avocado sales in support of Cinco de Mayo were 52.6 million pounds, an 18 percent increase over the same period last year. It is the first time since 2002 that Cinco de Mayo outpaced avocado consumption for the NFL's Super Bowl