MINNEAPOLIS " In response to the unprecedented natural disaster in Southeast Asia, C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. and its employees have donated $90,000 to tsunami relief efforts. C.H. Robinson matched 100 percent of its employees? contributions, which totaled $45,000. John Wiehoff, C.H. Robinson?s chief executive officer, said, "The generosity and concern from our employees around the world has been fantastic. Our employees have always been an integral part of their communities, and their generosity does not come as a surprise. They truly are the foundation and strength of Robinson." The

Syngenta Seeds Inc./?Rogers? brand vegetables has announced that Norma Standerford has taken on a newly created role as strategic account manager, responsible for focusing breeders on traits beyond the grower and developing products designed specifically for markets by understanding the requirements of downstream customers. Ms. Standerford will initially be addressing needs in the fresh-cut processor segment. Ms. Standerford has most recently been marketing manager with Syngenta Seeds Inc./ "Rogers? brand for more than four years and was previously marketing director for Idaho-Eastern Oregon

Peter Rabbit is hopping on 5 A Day The Color Way this spring, and he wants children and their families to join him in eating more healthfully. The beloved Beatrix Potter bunny and his family had kids hopping in the produce aisles over the prospect of eating a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables when they visited Wal-Mart Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets across the country March 12. The "Hop on 5 A Day The Color Way? promotion was sponsored by the nonprofit educational Produce for Better Health Foundation, Wal-Mart and 14 health-minded suppliers. Families who visited Wal-Mart?s more

TAMPA, FL " Attendees of the Southeast Produce Council?s recent conference and expo had an opportunity to visit a strawberry laboratory and private company to gain insight into what it takes to produce the high-quality product that Florida is known for. The council?s second annual Retail & Foodservice Conference and Expo took place March 10-12 here, close to the Plant City-Dover area of the state known as the "Winter Strawberry Capital of the World," so it was a natural that the council dubbed this part of the event the "very berry field tours." Tour participants left by bus at 8 a.m. for the

Easily one of the more recognizable figures in the produce industry owing to his three decades in the business, Tony Merola will again be on the seminar circuit as the principal of Merola Marketing Group Inc., his Weston, FL-based consulting company that looks to educate the foodservice and retail segments of the industry on ways to best handle and use fruits and vegetables. For the past three years, Mr. Merola has been the face of "Litehouse? brand dressings as the company?s corporate executive chef, developing recipes for the product line and conducting demonstrations at retail locations and

VISALIA, CA " It has been a little more than two years since California citrus growers, fed up with losing money year after year, banded together in a voluntary cooperative called the California Citrus Growers Association, with the objective of returning their industry to profitability. Last year, the industry enjoyed its most profitable Navel season in recent memory, and so far, in spite of a record on-tree crop " estimated at 92 million 37.5 pound cartons " the 2004-05 Navel season is on track to be another profitable year, according to four directors of CCGA who participated in a panel