New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie would very much like Douglas Fisher to continue in his post as the state's secretary of agriculture. To that end, the governor released the following statement of support Jan. 26: "Secretary Douglas Fisher has proven to have a deep appreciation for New Jersey’s agricultural community that will be a valued addition to the Christie administration. I support his position as secretary for the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and look forward to working with him to promote and protect our state’s natural assets." Under state law, Mr. Fisher, 62, a former

The term "going south" has only positive implications for Superior Sales, a long-time produce grower-distributor based in Hudsonville, MI, which is formally launching operations at the border of Mexico and Arizona. The Nogales operation is headed by Brian LaForest and staffed by Steve Murphy and Omar Castillo. “We have been shipping out of Nogales since 1998 for the Sonora spring table grape deal and since 2002 for Mexico vegetables,” Mr. LaForest said in a mid-January press release, adding that Superior has actually been growing most of the same items as Mexico delivers in the winter during

MONTE VISTA, CO — Lower prices nationwide for russet potatoes had slowed movement on other varieties for Colorado shippers, but total shipments as of Jan. 13 were about 10-12 percent above shipments for the same time in 2009. Jim Ehrlich, executive director of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, told The Produce News that San Luis Valley shippers had moved more than 3,537 loads of spuds in December 2009 compared to 3,425 loads in December 2008. Total loads through December were 11,955, up nearly 2,000 loads over the previous shipping period. Russets continue to dominate the varietals

What a difference a year makes. Last season, mango-producing regions in southern Mexico produced an early bumper crop that resulted in large supplies of the yellow-skinned Ataulfo variety mangos in the marketplace in February, with many handlers having about twice the volume as they did a year earlier for the same time period. "This year it is going to be just the opposite," said Bill Vogel, president of Tavilla Sales Co. of Los Angeles. "February and March are going to have 50 percent of their regular volume." Mr. Vogel added, however, that the second and third blooms would produce very good

A uniform communication system to help retailers pull recalled product off the shelf in quick fashion has been developed and is being utilized by a majority of the national retailers and many of the top center-of-the-store food manufacturers. As of yet, however, only a handful of produce suppliers have signed up. Called the Rapid Recall Exchange, the Internet-based communication system has developed an electronic form that answers all the right questions in the event of a recall and quickly disseminates the information to retailers and other customers of the supplier. The Food Marketing

WASHINGTON -- The produce industry will need to look out for a new guidance the U.S. Food & Drug Administration is planning to release soon that may change the rules for filing on-line reports under the four-month- old Reportable Food Registry. As of Sept. 8, registered food facilities for the first time were required to file on-line reports to the FDA when a responsible party knows a product is likely to result in serious health consequences. Companies, which have 24 hours to file the mandatory reports, must investigate the cause of the adulteration, maintain records for two years, and are