Dole Fresh Vegetables Inc. has sued its competitor Ready Pac Produce Inc. for engaging in "unfair competition" because three top Dole employees have joined former Dole COO Larry Kern at Ready Pac in the last few months. The suit was filed in Monterey Superior Court June 18 and alleges that Ready Pac has engaged and continues to engage in unfair competition. The suit names three employees that left Dole between March and June and now work for Ready Pac. Steve Dickstein, vice president of marketing for Ready Pac, acknowledged that the three associates in question have joined Ready Pac since

Darden Restaurants Inc. in Orlando, FL, the world's largest casual dining restaurant operator, has developed a new restaurant concept that perfectly suits the trend toward high-nutrition and lower-calorie dining. The organization, which is best known for its Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants, opened its first Seasons 52 Fresh Grill and Wine Bar in Orlando, FL, in February 2003. The restaurant proved so successful that it opened two additional locations in 2005: one in Fort Lauderdale and another in Altamonte Springs, near Orlando. Two more locations, one in Palm Beach Gardens and the

The Herbal Garden in Wauconda, IL, and Fresh Connect in Chicago have signed an agreement whereby Fresh Connect will handle foodservice sales for The Herbal Garden. Acting as account representatives, Fresh Connect will represent The Herbal Garden to chain operators as well as distributors. "Andy Siegel and his group at Fresh Connect are not only going to strengthen our existing customer relations with their incredible foodservice sales outreach but also bring our name to the forefront of the culinary herb category," Jennie Giammasi, marketing manager of The Herbal Garden, said in a statement

Gonzales, CA-based Foxy Foods, a leading supplier of fresh vegetable trays to consumers, has introduced two new vegetable trays using national brand, "Hidden Valley The Original Ranch Dressing." The vegetable trays, available in 18- and 36-ounce sizes, offer consumers the opportunity to use the Hidden Valley dressing, which has the highest total advertising awareness among leading bottled dressing brands with 16 percent of all consumers indicating that "Hidden Valley The Original Ranch Dressing is the only dressing they would buy. "Utilizing 'Hidden Valley The Original Ranch Dressing'

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. sold its 236 Canadian stores to the Quebec-based Metro Inc. retail operation this week in a move that was apparently very well received by the U.S. business community. In Canadian dollars, the deal was announced at $1.7 billion: $1.2 billion Canadian in cash and $500 million Canadian in stock. The infusion of cash will help A&P retire much of its U.S. debt and refurbish many of its stores. The investment community applauded loudly as the stock rose nearly 10 percent on the news to a 52-week high of more than $32 (U.S.) per share. A&P's stock has been

BC Hot House Foods Inc. in Surrey, British Columbia, announced July 20 the resignation of David R. Smith as president and chief executive officer. Mr. Smith contributed three years to BC Hot House, in which time he focused on building and strengthenin g grower relations, acquiring year-round critical mass necessary to service a consolidated customer base, providing customers superior logistics and customer service and differentiating BC Hot House in the industry as a full product line greenhouse p roducer. "BC Hot House and the board have been outstanding to work for, and I've thoroughly