The B.C. Vegetable Marketing Commission has named a fourth agency to control a slice of the province's greenhouse vegetable pie. Country Fresh Produce Inc., appointed on June 15, combines the tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers grown by Houweling Nurseries Ltd. and South Alder Greenhouses Ltd. of Delta, and Topgro Greenhouses Ltd. of Langley, BC, under one distribution umbrella. The Country Fresh Produce agency will rely on The Oppenheimer Group in Vancouver as its sales, marketing and logistics partner. In its oversight capacity of British Columbias greenhouse industry, the B.C. Vegetable

Unless shippers think the top retailers in the nation are mistaken about the future, they shouldn't delay in at least getting started on an RFID system, according to Bruce Peterson of Wal-Mart. Mr. Peterson, who is the giant chains well-known senior vice president and general merchandising manager of perishables, is also an outspoken advocate of radio frequency identification  the technology that allows for the tagging of merchandise with a computer chip and the tracking of that product through a base station with no human input. Wal-Mart and the U.S. Department of Defense issued well

Tops Markets, which is owned by Ahold USA, has announced that it will sell its 31 stores in eastern New York to focus on its core markets in western New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. In a company statement, the retailer said that it has reached agreement to sell six of the 31 stores to Price Chopper, and it is looking for buyers for the other 25 stores. Tops plans to use the capital raised from the transactions for updates to the company's new prototype, Martins Super Food Stores, which debuted in Perinton, NY, last September. Since then, another Martins has opened in New York also featuring

Tanimura & Antle in Spreckles, CA, announced July 27 that Matt Simis has been promoted to director of strategy, reporting directly to CEO Rick Antle, whom he will assist in developing strategic direction for Tanimura & Antle and its affiliated companies. Mr. Simis will continue to support senior T&A management operational and financial teams, assisting them in developing and refining analytical and technology-based tools that further improve Tanimura & Antle's ability to deliver high-quality products in todays competitive and challenging produce industry business environment. Mr. Simis began

NEWARK, DE -- The Produce Marketing Association welcomed its 2005-06 foodservice board of directors, which took office during the PMA Foodservice Conference, Tours & Expo, July 23-25, in Monterey, CA. Foodservice Board Chairman Gene Harris, senior p urchasing manager for Denny's Corp. in Spartanburg, SC, is joined by 16 directors. They are: * Leonard Batti, vice president of production and processing at NewStar in Salinas, CA. * Steve Bleeker, corporate manager of sourcing and procurement at The Walt Disney Co. in Orlando, FL. * Chris Ciruli, partner at Ciruli Bros. in Tucson, AZ. * Kevin

University of California President Robert Dynes expressed his enthusiasm after witnessing a recent Radio Frequency Identification presentation at NewStar Fresh Foods LLC in Salinas, site of the nation's first RFID cold-chain produce testing center. Sausalito, CA-based QLM Consulting and Michigan State University operate the facility on behalf of Eden Prairie, MN-based C.H. Robinson Worldwide and NewStar -- one of C.H. Robinson's preferred providers. Mr. Dynes' enthusiasm was understandable to the small group that discussed RFID at NewStar after his departure. Michael McCartney, principal of