The 2005-06 California Navel orange crop is estimated at 84 million cartons, just 2 percent below last year's 86- million carton crop, according to the California Agricultural Statistics Service. The Central Valley crop is estimated at 82 million cartons, with Southern California, mostly Riverside County, accounting for the remaining 2 million cartons of the total. Growers say that the size structure of the crop is a little smaller -- perhaps one size smaller on average -- than a year ago, but that the quality, shape and appearance of the fruit are better. The start of the harvest is as many

PHILADELPHIA -- The annual Chilean Fruit Importers meeting, presented by the Chilean & American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, was held here Oct. 21 and included a variety of relevant discussions surrounding the upcoming Chilean season. But standing out in urgency and long-term implications for the Chilean import deal was a presentation by Washington, DC-based attorney David Holzworth of Lepon Holzworth & Kato PLLC. Mr. Holzworth outlined the implications of an effort coming from California to change USDA Marketing Order 925, which would move the last date for Chilean grapes to

Charlie Sciara & Son Produce Co. Inc., which operates in the greater Memphis, TN, market, has become the newest member of Produce Alliance. For 64 years, Charlie Sciara & Son Produce Co. Inc. has held the philosophy that superior quality and total commitment to customer satisfaction have only been achieved by maintaining absolute control over all aspects of the business and by paying attention to detail. In 1988, with an ever-increasing foodservice market, Sciara Produce moved to its current 50,000-square-foot location. Almost tripling its warehouse and cold-storage size, it was able to

SALINAS, CA -- Tanimura & Antle Inc., based in Spreckles, CA, has announced that Mike Antle has become vice president of harvest in addition to continuing to serve as an executive vice president of the company. Mr. Antle will assume responsibility for all harvest operations of T&A and will report to President and COO Ken Silveira. Working closely with Steve Bassi, senior vice president of agriculture operations, Mr. Antle will provide leadership in a role he has held previously. Mr. Antle began working with T&A when the Tanimura and Antle families first opened the business in 1982. He was a

Michel Desjardins Ltd., one of Montreal's larger wholesalers and importers of fruits and vegetables, filed a proposal under the Canadian Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act Oct. 17, the Dispute Resolution Corp. announced in a statement. Alain Gravel, vice president of Michel Desjardins, told The Produce News Oct. 24 that the company was still operating and that it was business as usual while its lawyers and trustees worked to resolve what he termed "a bump in the road." "We have made a proposal to our creditors to keep our business alive," Mr. Gravel said. "We want to reinvest back in the company so

While in office, he wasn't well known for eating healthy, but former President Bill Clinton has signed up with Nickelodeon in a campaign to reach children in the fight against obesity. Nickelodeon, the children's television network that has committed more than $28 million and 10 percent of its air time to health-and-wellness messaging, plans to run new public service announcements featuring Mr. Clinton and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckebee as they encourage kids to eat healthy and stay active. "This issue is very close to me," Mr. Clinton said at an Oct. 19 press conference. "As a child, I was