In addition to killing more than 1,000 Guatemalans, Hurricane Stan inflicted a great deal of damage to the country's produce exports when it hit Oct. 4-5, according to Martin Maldonado, a native Guatemalan and an importer for Team Produce International Inc. in Miami. Mr. Maldonado told The Produce News Oct. 11 that up to 80 percent of the blackberries, baby vegetables, sno peas and snap beans will be affected by the storm. Virtually all exports of these fresh products were halted the week of Oct. 10. Some resumption would begin around Oct. 21, he said. Guatemala suffered damage to coffee

PHILADELPHIA  The season's first imported Brazilian grapes arrived in Philadelphia Oct. 7-8, according to Tom Leonardi of Fresh Taste Produce USA & Associates Inc., here. About nine or 10 U.S. receivers had fruit on the ship, which was being held for 15 days at Lucca Cold Storage in Mullica Hill, NJ, per USDA phytosanitary requirements for cold treatment. Mr. Leonardi said that the first Brazilian grapes will be on the market about Oct. 26. These grapes are the Festival variety of Sugraone. "For Brazil, it looks like a very, very good year," in part because California green grapes are quickly

WASHINGTON  Minnesota officials are calling it the "smoking gun." For the first time, a laboratory has found E. coli O157:H7 in two bags of prepackaged lettuce in connection to the Dole lettuce recall. In Minnesota, 23 people have become sick because of an E. coli outbreak linked to bagged salads. State health officials began investigating reports of E. coli O157:H7 disease and followed the trail to prepackaged Dole lettuce purchased from at least four different Rainbow Foods grocery stores in the Twin Cities area Sept. 13-16. Dole issued its recall while noting that the product may have been

While the Florida citrus industry got a spot of good news Oct. 12 with the release of the 2005-06 citrus crop forecast, the beleaguered industry still has a long way to go toward recovery in the face of the devastating canker and citrus greening plights. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said that it expects the state's orange crop to produce 190 million boxes during the coming season  27 percent more than the 149.6 million boxes produced last year. Dan Gunter, executive director of the Lakeland, FL-based Florida Department of Citrus, addressed a group of select media in a combined

Dandrea Produce will double its Chilean fruit volume this year as the result of the acquisition of a 50 percent interest in a partnership between a Chilean grower and a U.S.-based importer. According to Steve Dandrea, who is involved in sales for Landisville, NJ-based Dandrea Produce, his company acquired a 50 percent share in the partnership between importer Andes River in Cherry Hill, NJ, and Copefrut, a grower based in Chile. Mr. Dandrea said that Copefrut is one of Chile's larger growers of stone fruit, apples and cherries, and it also handles grapes and kiwifruit. Dandrea Produce has had

While the Texas produce industry avoided a direct hit from last month's Hurricane Rita, there are short- and long-term effects from that storm as well as Hurricane Katrina, said John McClung of the Texas Produce Association. "We lost no crops or acreage," said Mr. McClung, and the hurricane didnt disrupt any immediate shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables. Additionally, he said that the imports that typically come into Texas enter by truck via the southern border with Mexico, which also wasnt affected by Hurricane Rita. But just as quickly, the associations chief executive officer said