Cool weather in the growing region delayed the start of the harvest for Mexican-grown spring cantaloupes and honeydews from SunFed in Nogales, AZ, according to Alan Voll, vice president of sales and marketing. The harvest, which was originally scheduled to start around April 20, did not get underway until about May 1, but it was going strong and still building when The Produce News talked with Mr. Voll May 11. "We started about a week-and-a-half ago," he said. "Currently, we've got excellent supplies. I would say that we will actually go into our peak volume a week from today, and we should

You won't find any sales circulars or flyers at Exo Fruits. That's because the store's general manager, Giovanni Daddio, does not believe the store needs them. "We do not advertise and give away merchandise to get customers in," he said. "Our philosophy is only one. We believe in service and only the best quality of the product at a decent price." Mr. Daddio bought the store, which has a 3,600-foot selling area, in the early 1980s. He sold it to its current owner, Amjad Ansari, in 1990, but remained on as its general manager. Exo Fruits -- short for exotic -- caters to an upper-middle-class

NORTH YORK, ON -- Upon entering Galati Market Fresh's Leslie store, located here about 10 minutes north of downtown Toronto, shoppers are met with a variety of the freshest produce, both bulk and fresh cut, and in copious varieties. "We try to carry a little of everything in our produce aisle," Peter Aceto, the three-store chain's produce buyer and supervisor, told The Produce News during a visit in early March, noting that the chain had about 400 to 500 SKUs available at any given time. "We are known for carrying everything available as best as possible, and it is working well for us." Mr

Arizona growers are hoping the U.S. Food & Drug Administration finds a contamination source related to the latest Romaine lettuce recall traced from an Ohio processor back to a Yuma, AZ, field as they think about next season's crop. Freshway Foods announced May 6 a 23-state recall of Romaine lettuce supplied to foodservice and institutions with a use-by date of May 12 or earlier after FDA linked the lettuce to 19 illnesses with a rare strain of E. coli. As of May 12, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention indicated that 23 confirmed cases and seven more probable cases have been

ATLANTA -- "What'll ya have? What'll ya have? What'll ya have?" That mantra is as familiar to Georgians as the Pledge of Allegiance, and many have heard it since childhood. Since 1928, The Varsity restaurant has been welcoming diners with that question and serving up fresh, made-from- scratch fare like burgers, dogs, french fries and maybe the world's best onion rings from its landmark location at North Ave. and Spring St. in downtown Atlanta. There are a half-dozen Varsity outlets across the state, but none matches the original for ambience or volume. Billed as the world's largest drive-in

In a bipartisan show of support for the United Fresh Foundation's A Salad Bar in Every School campaign, U.S. Reps. Steve Driehaus (D-OH) and Jean Schmidt (R-OH) were scheduled to cheer the dedication of a new salad bar May 10 at Cincinnati's Academy of World Languages. They were to be joined by Chiquita Brands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Fernando Aguirre, Cincinnati Public Schools Superintendent Mary Ronan and United Fresh Produce Association President and CEO Tom Stenzel. In addition to the new salad bar at the Academy of World Languages, salad bars have also been added at Cincinnati