Houston-based Sysco Corp. announced that its FreshPoint produce subsidiary bought City Produce Inc., a leading independent produce distributor in Texas' Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Harlingen, foodservice markets, and Thomas Bros. Produce Inc., an independent produce distributor in Oklahoma. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed. "The addition of City Produce and Thomas Brothers is a significant milestone for FreshPoint," Sysco Vice President and FreshPoint President and Chief Executive Officer Brian M. Sturgeon said in a statement. "Both of these companies are market leaders

"Big" is a word used to describe much about the onion industry of the Snake River Valley of Idaho and the adjacent counties of eastern Oregon. With its average 21,000 acres planted each year, the region makes up the largest storage onion-producing region in the United States and accounts for more than 24,000 carlots shipped and 25 percent of all fresh bulb onions consumed nationally in the United States each year. Also big is the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee, a body governed by a federal marketing order, which is comprised of more than 300 growers and 36 shippers. The onions produced

Fresno, CA-based Baloian Packing Inc. has formally changed its name to Baloian Farms in an effort to more clearly communicate the organization's long-standing heritage as a premier grower, packer and shipper of fresh produce. As part of the new identity, Baloian Farms is also unveiling a new corporate logo. "After much consideration, I feel the new name more accurately reflects what it is we do collectively as an organization," said Baloian Farms President and Chief Executive Officer Tim Baloian. "We represent a group of premier growers, packers and shippers of fresh fruits and vegetables that

The top-selling fruit in U.S. produce departments is now in shorter supply than usual as a result of storms that tore through banana-producing regions last fall. Michael Mitchell, director of corporate communications for Chiquita Brands International Inc. in Cincinnati, told The Produce News Feb. 14 that this situation first developed with Hurricane Stan in Guatemala, followed by Tropical Storm Gamma in Honduras in the fourth quarter of 2005. Supplies have remained low in the first quarter of 2006 because of unusually cool weather in other countries that can serve as alternative banana sources

TULARE, CA -- A total of 140 seminars on nearly every conceivable agriculture-related topic, from cooking demonstrations to dealing with an increasingly hostile business environment, were presented during the three days of the World Ag Expo held here Feb. 14-16 at the International Agri-Center. Among them was a series of international trade seminars that included three separate 90-minute-long sessions that addressed China. Speakers discussed marketing opportunities and pitfalls in China, assessments of China's potential as a fierce competitor in the international market and in the U.S. market

Veteran California produce industry member Jim Llano has been named director of sales and marketing at Santa Maria, CA-based Bonipak Produce Co. Mr. Llano joined Bonipak three weeks ago with a mandate to oversee and manage the Bonipak sales staff in the further development of retail and foodservice accounts. Mr. Llano leaves a position at Wenatchee, WA-based Stemilt Growers Inc., where he handled California export sales. While at Stemilt, Mr. Llano introduced multiple-load volume of Stemilt apples and pears directly into Puerto Rico and Mexico. "We're looking to him to provide leadership,"