While this year's Peruvian asparagus deal is in full swing and by most accounts has been a good season overall, the volume shipped to the United States is not as high as in past years. "Volume has increased about 1 to 2 percent this year, where in past years it has increased by 12 to 14 percent a year," said John-Campbell Barmmer, director of marketing for Chestnut Hill Farms, a division of Bounty Fresh LLC, and co-chair of the Peruvian Asparagus Importers Association. "Production in Peru has increased 12 to 15 percent over last year, but product is going toward new and different markets in

The Dallas Farmers Market is undergoing a study on the best ways to revamp the open-air retail facility through a $3.2 million overhaul that will take 36 months to complete, according to Troy Thorn, administrator. He said that the transition will provide for offering more prepared foods and also for related stores, such as those that would specialize in cook books, kitchen wares, wines and cheeses. The market, which has been in operation since December 1941, has stalls for 225 farmer-vendors, who sell produce from the end of March through the fall. The market operates at a peak with local

For print journalists who attempt to paint a picture with their words, the usually colorless Wall Street Journal is the holy grail of the newspaper world. Though it has succumbed slightly to the print media trend of clouding words with pictures, it has stayed pretty close to its roots of letting well-written words tell the story. Hence, it is particularly galling when The Wall Street Journal plays it loose and publishes a story that isn't supported by facts. Such was the case with a Nov. 29 article titled "When Eating Your Vegetables Makes You Sick." Writer Jane Zhang reported that according

Following last year's OSO Sweet onion crop -- the best ever -- the 18th season of exporting OSO Sweet onions from Chile to America is set to commence. The shipping season runs from January through March. All onions are grown at the base of the Andes Mountains in Chile, where OSO Sweet was among the early players in the winter sweet onion category in 1989 and has been an innovative leader ever since. While there have been other producers who grow sweet onions in Chile, few if any have as much experience in this growing region. Extensive trial and error has enabled OSO Sweet to establish a

The Canadian Produce Marketing Association's Industry Technology Advisory Council hosted "produce days," an open house of the new Canadian RFID Centre, on Nov. 21-22. Representatives from major Canadian retailers, produce industry suppliers and GS1 Canada -- the group that is globally responsible for supply chain standards -- toured the CRC to see first-hand the benefits that RFID provides. The CRC, which is hosted in an IBM facility in Markham, ON, just outside Toronto, will initially focus on the retail, produce and consumer packaged goods industries. It will demonstrate how RFID can enable

Tommy Krulder, who has spent his entire professional career with the Waldbaum supermarket chain and later its parent company, announced that he will retire in the middle of this month. "I am going to retire from the retail end of the business," Mr. Krulder told The Produce News Wednesday, Nov. 30. "My last official day is December 16." Mr. Krulder, 60, left open the possibility that he would remain active in some segment of the produce business, which he has loved ever since he started working while still a teenager for the Waldbaum chain. "My hope is to somehow represent the West Coast