Andy Gustavson, produce manager for Ben Lomond Market in Ben Lomond, CA, and produce supervisor for sister store Scotts Valley Market in Scotts Valley, CA, told The Produce News in late July that strawberries were selling well but that August brings competition for other items. August signals a push in peaches, plums and melons - and locally grown corn. Strawberry volume typically is high in April, May and June. Mr. Gustavson said that his customers want locally grown produce and he accommodates that request as best he can. The day he spoke with The Produce News, he received strawberries from

Chiquita Brands International launched its new blend of artisanal packaged salads on a nationwide basis. The salads bring the taste of the four seasons with ingredients cultivated by artisanal growers and picked throughout the year for optimal freshness and taste. "The new Fresh Express artisanal salad line is the most recent example of our commitment to meeting consumer demand for a delicious and unique salad eating experience," Brian Kocher, president of Chiquita North America, said in an Aug. 10 press release announcing the release of the line. "Chiquita and Fresh Express strive to be first

Driscoll Strawberry Associates Inc., a leading provider of fresh berries based in Watsonville, CA, unveiled a new logo and label design that will be used throughout all areas of sales and marketing. The new look will begin to hit the U.S. market within the next few weeks. "Driscoll's grows only the finest berries," Douglas Ronan, vice president of marketing at Driscoll, said in an Aug. 5 press release. "In nearly two years of consumer research, we learned our customers count on us for growing delightful strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. We determined there is an

Walter Mills Tindell, who for some 14 years presided over Blue Anchor, an agricultural packing and marketing cooperative that was long a dominant force in the California fruit industry, died Tuesday, Aug. 3, in Sacramento, after a prolonged illness. He was 81. Mr. Tindell was born May 25, 1929, in Lodi, CA, graduated from Lodi High School attended the University of California-Berkeley, where he met Barbara Green who would become his wife of 59 years. In 1952, Mr. Tindell went to work for the Placerville Fruit Growers Exchange as assistant manager and later directed that company's extensive

California had a small Hass avocado crop last year and finished shipping in August. This year, the state has a large crop which, for a variety of reasons, got off to a slow start and as of late July was at peak volume with still roughly 40 percent of the harvest to go. Volume was expected to continue strong into October, with some shipments extending into November. As it happens, Mexico and Chile, the other two major avocado producing areas for the U.S. market, which last year were in strong volume hot on the heels of California's early finish, both will be considerably later getting into

Turbulent weather in the Pacific Northwest is expected to delay the 2010 potato production season. But industry officials have indicated that the crop will be characterized by good quality and volumes. Spring conditions during the planting season were unusually cool and wet in the region. Bill Brewer, executive director of the Oregon Potato Commission, said that the state's growing areas all provided positive feedback. "Each of the areas has indicated they have a nice crop coming," he told The Produce News in mid- July. Producers are still cleaning out supplies from 2009. As for transition