A stock dividend payment has financial experts predicting a merger between The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc. in Montvale, NJ, and Pathmark Stores Inc. in Carteret, NJ. But retail produce industry experts don't see the possible marriage as a good fit. A spokesman for Pathmark told The Produce News, "There is nothing I can or will say about that. We don't comment on rumors." Efforts to reach a spokesman for A&P were unsuccessful. But denials aside, the financial community was abuzz with an A&P announcement that it would issue a special dividend of $7.25 per share to its stockholders

The California spring onion season starts around mid-April with onions out of the Imperial Valley in the state's southern desert region. That deal normally runs about six weeks, leading into the San Joaquin Valley onion harvest which starts around late May or early June. A late spring and summer deal, the San Joaquin Onion harvest begins around Bakersfield at the southern end of the valley and moving northward to the west side of the central San Joaquin Valley. The harvest generally continues into late August in the San Joaquin Valley. This year, the weather in the Imperial Valley has been

The strawberry industry was among the very early segments of the produce industry to embrace the use of clear plastic clamshells for retail consumer packs. The majority of fresh strawberries now goes to market in clamshells. They are popular for many reasons: They display the product well, they protect it, they extend shelf life and reduce shrink, and they reduce labor costs at store level. But there are downsides, one being the amount of non- biodegradable plastic waste generated by their use. There is, however, an environmentally friendly alternative: clear clamshells made from a compostable

TexaSweet Citrus Marketing Inc., based in Mission, TX, announced the promotion of Eleisha Ensign to executive director. Ms. Ensign has been with the organization for two years as the marketing coordinator and replaces Lucy Garcia, who resigned to take a position with Imagination Farms LLC in Indianapolis. Ms. Ensign's creative contributions to TexaSweet over the last two years have been invaluable in building a full marketing campaign for the Texas citrus industry. The campaign has helped to rebrand Texas citrus in both the consumer and retail arenas. Some of her accomplishments have been

Filmmakers Jamie Howell and Guy Evans are finding the Wenatchee, WA, area to be fertile ground for their upcoming documentary. "Gee Whiz: the Story of Grady Auvil" will chronicle the legendary Washington orchardist and the unique ways in which he "forever changed the tree fruit industry." Mr. Auvil, founder of Auvil Fruit Co., died in 1998 at the age of 93, but he passed along his sense of innovation and commitment to his descendants, who still operate the business. It was he who introduced the Granny Smith apple to the Wenatchee Valley in 1972, and the variety remains one of the more popular

Rain, hail, frost, cloud cover and below-normal temperatures have all had an impact on California stone fruit this spring. But as growers evaluated their orchards in mid-April, they were much more optimistic about what they were seeing than the general mood in the industry seemed to be a week earlier. Cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums and Pluots will be anywhere from a week-and-a-half to two-and-a-half weeks later than last year for most varieties. Some early varieties appear to have light sets and extended maturity, meaning the fruit in any given orchard or even on the same tree