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Blizzard slows northeastern produce trade

A major snowstorm that hit the Northeast Jan. 22-23 caused some disruption in the produce trade in Philadelphia, New York and Boston, the latter being particularly affected as up to three feet of snow fell in areas north and east of the city. John Grant, owner of Grant Stanton Produce Co. Inc. in Boston, said, "It was one of the worst four or five storms we've had in the last century. After the snow, business was extremely sparse. This was really a first-class blizzard, with near-hurricane winds and temperatures from zero into the teens. We had 24 to 36 inches of snow, depending where you were

F.S. Duda announces retirement as CEO of A. Duda & Sons; Joseph A. Duda appointed new CEO

Ferdinand S. Duda, chief executive officer of the agribusiness A. Duda & Sons Inc., based in Oviedo, FL, has announced his retirement from full-time employment with the family-owned business, effective Jan. 1. Mr. Duda has been elected to serve as chairman of the board of directors and will continue to work on special projects for the company on a consulting basis. Joseph A. Duda will succeed his brother as chief executive officer and continue to serve as president. ?F.S. has provided strong, steady leadership during a period of significant growth of both our agriculture and real estate

Half of Costa Rica?s banana crop flooded

At least four Costa Ricans were killed, 16,000 people were evacuated and thousands of acres of bananas were destroyed when record-breaking rains struck the Caribbean coasts of Costa Rica and northern Panama Jan. 8. While the worst rainfall was on Jan. 8, the downpour didn?t end until Jan. 13. Dole, Chiquita and Del Monte all have major production in the stricken region, while "Banacol has a farm with a couple hundred hectares impacted. Banacol did not have as much damage as the other companies," Tim Debus, executive director of the International Banana Association in Washington, DC, told The

RETAIL VIEW: Wal-Mart's RFID initiative on track

When Wal-Mart asked its 100 top suppliers to be moving aggressively toward RFID-readiness by Jan. 1, 2005, many in the chip industry doubted it was possible. And it was somewhat of a foregone conclusion that no produce industry firms would be able to comply " nor were they asked to. But just as the giant chain?s general merchandise suppliers began to move toward radio frequency identification, so did some of Wal-Mart?s top produce suppliers. And in the first week of January, some produce shipments did go to the chain with an RFID attached. 'When we started working on this project with Wal-Mart

Black Diamond buys Sun World for $127 million

When Sun World International Inc., in Bakersfield, CA, went on the auction block Thursday, Jan. 13, the bidding opened at $95 million, with Black Diamond Capital Management LLC, a Lake Forest, IL-based investment group and a major Sun World bond holder, as the stalking horse bidder. But other investors were also very eager to add Sun World to their portfolio " so eager that at the end of the day, the winning bid " from Black Diamond " came in at $127,750,000. Sun World President and CEO Tim Shaheen was elated. In a telephone interview with The Produce News immediately following the bankruptcy

Nancy Betancourt named director of fresh fruit sales for Maui Pineapple

Maui Pineapple Co. Ltd., a leading supplier of high-quality, fresh Hawaiian pineapple based in Kahului, Maui, announced that Nancy Betancourt has been named director of fresh fruit sales. The appointment was effective Jan. 3. ?Nancy has terrific experience in the fresh produce industry and more specifically in developing business for fresh Hawaiian Pineapple," said Howard Nager, vice president of fresh sales and marketing. "We are looking for Nancy to build new relationships and seek out new business opportunities in support of our projected growth." Ms. Betancourt has over 18 years of fresh
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The Supervisory Board of Royal FloraHolland said interim Chief Financial Officer Hendrik Jan Roel will leave at the start of 2026 to join Jumbo Supermarkets, where he has accepted a permanent position. Roel’s temporary appointment followed CFO David van Mechelen’s move to acting CEO after CEO Pieter Bootsma went on medical leave. The company said Bootsma’s recovery is progressing, and he is expected to begin a gradual return in January 2026.

“I am delighted that Pieter Bootsma's health is improving to such an extent that he will be able to return to RFH gradually and step by step from January 2026.,” Supervisory Board Chairman Evert van Helvoort said.

Van Mechelen will remain acting CEO until further notice. The board is working on a temporary solution to cover the CFO vacancy while continuing to prioritize the execution of Strategy 2030 and ensuring stable leadership at Royal FloraHolland.

Van Helvoort said he is pleased that Bootsma’s health has improved enough for him to return gradually beginning in January.

The Members’ Council and Employees’ Council have been notified.

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