As the U.S. presidential primary races continue, one of the debate topics has been "change." The candidates are being challenged with questions about change. But how will any changes influence business, especially the food industry? What will happen in produce? Do growers, shippers and retailers have any idea of what lies ahead? Is change expected to have an impact on today's management, or will it be business as usual? A year from now, some companies will be looking back at 2008 and wondering why they didn't see certain challenges coming at them with those changes. Many will be spinning their

The benefits of using carbon dioxide to displace oxygen and ethylene in a pallet of strawberries during shipment has long been known, and the technique of enclosing the pallet in a bag and flushing out the oxygen and ethylene by using carbon dioxide has been widely used in the strawberry industry for some 25 years. About five or six years ago, a new carbon dioxide delivery system, developed by a company appropriately named CO2 Technologies, was first applied to strawberries, according to Danny Brigham, a partner in CO2 West in Santa Maria, CA, which specializes in providing a CO2 Technologies

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ -- Nearly 1,000 attendees came to network, learn and see the newest products and services available to vegetable growers from over 100 speakers and vendors at the Atlantic Coast Agricultural Convention & Trade Show, held here Jan. 15-17 at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort and sponsored by the Vegetable Growers Association of New Jersey. Originally known as the New Jersey Annual Vegetable Meeting & Trade Show, the annual event used the aptly phrased slogan for this year's convention, "Making changes. Growing stronger." John Banscher, the association's president, said in the

WASHINGTON -- Three produce associations moved one step closer to adopting industrywide traceability standards, an effort that the groups acknowledge won't come cheap to a company's bottom line but is urgently needed. The Produce Marketing Association and the Canadian Produce Marketing Association started the work on forging best practices for tracing produce years ago, and the United Fresh Produce Association joined last year and helped form a steering committee in October with more than 30 companies representing all segments of the supply chain. The committee held its first meeting Jan. 9 in

Ron Carkoski, president and chief executive officer of Four Seasons Produce Inc. in Ephrata, PA, said the produce industry has lost a friend with the passing of Anthony Francis Colagiovanni, who died Jan. 11 following a yearlong battle with leukemia. He was 57. "It's quite a loss," Mr. Carkoski told The Produce News. "Tony joined the Four Seasons family in January of 2000 as a member of the buying team and developed into the role of lead buyer before his illness struck," Mr. Carkoski added. One of the things that Mr. Carkoski said he will always remember is Mr. Colagiovanni's infectious

As a result of the recent widespread frosts throughout the growing regions of California, highly flavorful artichokes known as "frost kissed" artichokes are now in stores for a short time. "The impact of frost on artichokes is similar to how human skin reacts to sunburn," Kori Tuggle, marketing manager for Ocean Mist Farms, said in a press release. "Frost turns the outside layer of the artichoke dark brown, and then it flakes and peels." Once cooked, the brown outer layer is gone, resulting in the soft green artichoke that is familiar to people. "Frosting is strictly a cosmetic condition," Ms