PHILADELPHIA -- Many key players in the Chilean fruit business were on hand Nov. 19 to honor Leo Holt, president of Holt Logistics Corp., at the 12th annual Friend of Chile award luncheon. Holt Logistics headquarters are in Gloucester City, NJ. More than 300 people attended the Chilean & American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia event in Philadelphia's historic and elegant Union League Club. It was the last CACC event for the chamber's executive director, Sheryl Rothberg, who is retiring after 17 years in the position. In his award acceptance remarks, Mr. Holt described Ms. Rothberg

Bob Norberg, deputy executive director for the Florida Department of Citrus in Lakeland, FL, told The Produce News that the current three-year referendum on citrus, which taxes 1 cent per box to growers for research on citrus diseases, ends with the 2009-10 citrus season. "We are asking growers if they want to continue to tax themselves to support citrus research and to increase the tax to 3 cents per box," said Mr. Norberg. "Depending on the size of the crop, that would generate between $5 [million] and $5.5 million for continued research." The ballots asking for the increase were issued

By now, most of us have become exhausted from the constant reminding about the shaky economy that continues to plague the business world. Repetitive news about the sales and unemployment doldrums has weakened the public morale even further. Negative reports about the economy have become a daily routine. There have been some very tough times during the past couple of years, and some companies have felt the blows more than others have. But the gloom will not last forever. In fact, there is a good chance that with a favorable holiday season, retail sales could be just the spark needed to jump

Mission Produce Inc. in Oxnard, CA, a global avocado and asparagus supplier, has hired Mike Haynes as a sales representative. Mr. Haynes is a University of Southern California graduate with 20 years in the produce industry. He spent six years with Delta Produce and the last three years with Freska Produce exclusively selling avocados. At Mission, Mr. Haynes will be servicing new and existing retail and foodservice accounts. "We are very pleased to add someone of Mike's caliber to the Mission team," Ross Wileman, vice president of sales and marketing, said in a Nov. 24 press release. "With his

The Super Bowl is one of the more popular sporting events of the year, and, equally as important as the game is the food selection at Super Bowl parties. Since fresh garlic is such a popular ingredient in the kitchen and can be incorporated into so many dishes, Christopher Ranch decided to combine the two, challenging California culinary students at three culinary schools -- the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Los Angeles and the Art Institute of California in Orange County -- to enter the Garlic Gridiron Challenge by creating a garlic

KENNETT SQUARE, PA -- Construction approvals for local zoning took two years, but persistence has paid off for Manfredi Cold Storage, based here. Frank Manfredi, president of Manfredi Logistics Service, told The Produce News Nov. 20 that the first phase of a warehouse expansion will be open for Chilean fruit business in early February. The project will involve 75,000 square feet of new refrigerated space divided into five rooms. When all the immediate expansion plans are complete, Manfredi will have added 110,000 square feet of new refrigerated space. The current construction will have 37