Chiquita Brands International Inc. announced the opening of a new distribution center in Nogales, AZ, which serves retail and foodservice customers with "Chiquita" brand fresh fruits and vegetables. The facility offers state-of-the-art inventory management and easier handling, loading and unloading of products. It is also certified to leading food-safety standards from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Arizona Department of Health Services and Primus Labs. "This upgraded facility allows us to expand our grower base, strengthen our sales team and enhance our ability to offer the highest

Franklin Farms, marketer of the Portabella Veggiburger, a leading fresh veggie burger, as well as a variety of other vegetarian products, has added a gluten-free claim on the packaging of its products. Already all-natural, the company is incorporating more value-added product attributes to its vegetarian line. The company recently discontinued several items that did not meet the gluten-free criteria and added a new product, Soyrizo, a meat-free version of the traditional Mexican sausage, chorizo. Not only is Soyrizo gluten free, but is also vegan. "We are trying to give consumers of healthy

River Point Farms in Hermiston, OR, one of the larger onion producers in the United States, announced that it was recognized by the Subway restaurant chain as the North American Supply Chain Partner of the Year during the vendor awards ceremony at the annual Convention of Subway Franchisees that took place Aug. 1 in Orlando, FL. With a multitude of vendors supplying a variety of products to the restaurant chain's 28,000 locations worldwide, this distinction is awarded annually to the company that delivers the highest standard of quality in their product and provides a gold standard in service

SEASIDE, CA -- The California Department of Food & Agriculture, which oversees the Salinas, CA-based California Lettuce Research Board, is taking steps to form a new research board that would focus on both lettuce and spinach research. Mary Zischke, chief executive officer of the California Lettuce Research Board, shared the news with the audience assembled at the International Spinach Conference, held Monday, Sept. 24, at Embassy Suites Hotel Monterey Bay- Seaside. If all goes as planned, CDFA would have the new board in place in March, said Ms. Zischke. The new board's name would change to

Rick Antle, chief executive officer of Tanimura & Antle Inc. in Salinas, CA, gave his marketing department a tall order this spring: He wanted Tanimura & Antle to own Father's Day. So the company launched one of its more successful retail promotions ever, the "Hit A Home Run This Father's Day" retail promotion, which took the dad- friendly sport of baseball and combined it with Iceberg lettuce and the iconic Iceberg wedge salad. The company redesigned the Iceberg lettuce packaging to look like a baseball, provided baseball-themed artwork to participating retailers for in- store displays and

Fusion Marketing, a Los Angeles-based full-service marketing company, and the NPD Group, a New York-based international consumer research firm, announced the formation of a perishables industry-focused alliance. "This new relationship between the NPD Group and Fusion Marketing offers unprecedented levels of consumer information and marketing insights for the entire perishables industry," Steven Muro, president of Fusion Marketing, said in a press release. "We are excited to align with the world leader in consumer research on foods and beverages, the NPD Group. We believe it is important to