ORLANDO, FL -- The garlic industry continues to work toward a unified message in its efforts to compete against Chinese garlic. On Saturday, Oct. 25, garlic industry representatives from the United States and Mexico gathered here for its annual breakfast at the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit. The overriding message primarily was one of convincing customers of the attributes of garlic grown in California as well as in other countries other than China. It is not a new message but one that the breakfast participants said bears repeating with customers. Sal Vacca, a partner in Bronx

Jeff Twyman, founder, president and chief executive officer of GreenLine Foods in Bowling Green, OH, has announced that he will retire at the end of this year. Mr. Twyman will continue in the role of chairman of the board but will be handing off daily management responsibilities to Jeffrey D. Rettig, who has been named president of the company. Mr. Rettig has been with the company for approximately eight years and most recently served as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Mr. Twyman founded GreenLine in 1984 and was one of the early grower- shippers of fresh produce to enter

WASHINGTON -- The Food & Drug Administration will open its first China office in Beijing before the end of the year, and other FDA offices in India, Europe and Latin America will follow before next year, according to Health & Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. "We're making steady progress to better safeguard our supply of food and medicines," Mr. Leavitt said in an Oct. 16 press release. "In the past year, we've upgraded labs and equipment, hired additional staff and begun implementing product-safety agreements with key trading partners, including China." The first overseas office will

The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas is hosting a seminar titled "Importing, Food Safety & Food Security: What to Expect for 2009 and Beyond" to help the importing community have direct interaction with the Food & Drug Administration, U.S. Customs & Border Protection and the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- three government agencies that play significant roles in overseeing the importation of fresh fruits and vegetables. The two-day seminar will be held Nov. 18-19 in Tubac, AZ, which is located a few miles north of Nogales, the largest port of entry for fresh fruits and vegetables

Fort Pierce, FL-based DNE World Fruit Sales is licensed by Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. to sell products on the fresh citrus side under the "Ocean Spray" label, an arrangement that dates back to the late 1990s. Under the exclusive licensing arrangement, the two companies had engaged in a cross-promotion of DNE's fresh grapefruit with Ocean Spray's grapefruit juice. After a four-year absence, that cross-promotion will start again for the month of January with DNE offering a free five-pound bag of grapefruit when consumers buy two 64-ounce bottles of "Ocean Spray" brand grapefruit juice. DNE

"We're facing a death sentence for citrus trees in California, and the same is true for Mexico," Ted Batkin, president of the California Citrus Research Board in Visalia, said in an Oct. 10 press release. "We have a stronger chance of weakening the threat by working together on both sides of the border." To that end, a delegation of U.S. citrus industry representatives recently traveled to Mexico to meet with their Mexican counterparts and discuss the problem. Mr. Batkin said that "the delegation returned from two days of meetings ... feeling encouraged [that] the two countries will work