Aptos, CA-based Newman's Own Organics Fresh Produce is expanding its line to include potatoes. The Newman's Own Organics potato line will include organic Russet potatoes in five-pound bags and loose in 50-pound cartons, as well as organic red potatoes in five-pound bags and loose in 50-pound cartons. The five-pound potato bags will resemble all of the fresh produce packaging with the photo of an American Gothic "Pa" Newman and daughter Nell, along with the USDA's organic seal. Previously, Newman's Own Organics sold organic potatoes under the "Tomorrow's Organics label, but that label likely

"It looks as though, all things considered, we are likely to end up with a normal harvest in total," Tom Tjerandsen, manager of the California Fresh Apricot Council, said with regard to the 2005 California apricot crop. Earlier in the season, it had appeared that the harvest would yield a "greater-than-normal volume of apricots this year. But the crop potential "has been slowly chipped away because of principally weather-related issues, he said May 6. Although the total crop volume is now expected to be about normal, "the front end is going to be a little bit short, he said. He estimated a

SALINAS, CA - Mann Packing Co., based here, and Livingston, CA-based Consolidated Farms are teaming up to form California Fresh Farms LLC, a joint venture that will take fresh-cut sweet potatoes to the nation's restaurants and supermarkets. Mann - known for its fresh-cut vegetable products such as "Broccoli Wokly" and "Broccoli Cole Slaw, as well as innovative fresh vegetables like broccolini and stringless sugar snap peas - will handle the sales and marketing of the new items. Consolidated Farms will grow the sweet potatoes and California Fresh Farms will handle all the processing. The joint

SALINAS, CA -- Much has happened to Rory Cornell in the year since he graduated from California Polytechnic Institute with a degree in agribusiness marketing -- most of it good. Upon graduation last June, Mr. Cornell landed a job at Coastal Berry Co. in Watsonville, CA, as a "cooler liaison." But Dole acquired Coastal and Mr. Cornell was laid off in November. Welcome to the unpredictable world of agriculture. So Mr. Cornell reached out to Cal Poly again for help in finding work in the fresh produce industry. This time he landed an entry-level position as a sales coordinator with Steinbeck

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., the owner of A&P supermarkets, hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. to find a buyer for its Canadian grocery-store business, a sale that could raise more than $1 billion. This announcement, combined with its latest financial results and a planned major restructuring, led to sharply higher stock prices the week of May 9-13. A&P plans to sell A&P Canada, divest itself of its Midwest operations, and concentrate on its core operations in the broad corridor from Connecticut to Washington, DC. Christian Haub, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, said, "The

With legislation just introduced that would repeal mandatory country-of-origin labeling for meat, members of the produce industry wonder if their products can be far behind. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) is planning to introduce a comprehensive bill in the coming weeks that would add produce and seafood to the list of commodities no longer controlled by the mandatory COOL law. Without congressional action, mandatory labeling for produce is scheduled to go into effect Sept. 30, 2006. The labeling program already kicked in for fish and shellfish on April 4. On May 4