IRVINE, CA -- Don Reeder was elected chairman of the California Avocado Commission at its November board of directors meeting, Ohannes Karaoghlanian will serve as vice chairman, with Bradley Miles as secretary and Ben Holtz as treasurer. The elections filled five member positions and two handler positions this year. The commission board members serve two-year terms with the new members joining eight members already seated. "I'm looking forward to working with the new CAC board," Mr. Reeder said in a Dec. 15 press release. "The California avocado industry is forecasting a solid crop this coming

PLANT CITY, FL -- For now, the offices are empty, the paint is so fresh one can still smell it and workers continue to scurry about putting finishing touches on a just-renovated 51,000-square-foot facility that will serve as headquarters for SunnyRidge Farms' Florida strawberry operations. Within days, as office equipment and custom-manufactured pre-coolers arrive, the facility will become a hub of activity. Already, thousands of pre- made flats and cartons are stacked and waiting in the new SunnyRidge warehouse as the Florida strawberry season gets into full swing. SunnyRidge entered the

DILLSBURG, PA -- The nation's apple harvest yielded a vintage crop of apples in 2009, and many retailers took that opportunity to display and feature apples in their produce departments this fall. During the three-month merchandising window of September through November, the retail trade had the opportunity to feature early to late-season varieties as well as many local and regional varieties. Retailers found success in adding the partner products of Marzetti Caramel Apple Dips, JIF Natural Peanut Butter and Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter products to increase register rings. National Apple

John Napoleon Derdivanis, 87, died Dec. 12 in Monterey, CA. Born March 29, 1922, to Greek immigrant parents in Fresno, CA, he graduated from Roosevelt High School, where he was class president in 1937, according to a Dec. 14 press release. He continued to Bakersfield Junior College, where he was student body president. Along with a stint in the U.S. Army, Mr. Derdivanis attended the University of California at Los Angeles, where he majored in business and served on the Student Council. He was a pitcher for the UCLA Bruins and was affiliated with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. There he met

Citrus growers in California's San Joaquin Valley spent the nights of Dec. 7-8 taking intensive measures to protect their crops from freezing temperatures and managed to avert serious damage, according to press advisories issued Dec. 9 by California Citrus Mutual in Exeter, CA. However, "growers are anticipating reduced utilization because of ice marking," the advisory said. Ice marking is "a surface blemish that creates defects [and increases the chance of] bacteria development and premature decay. This fruit will not be packed, thereby reducing the number of cartons available for fresh

Al Gotelli, a third-generation cherry grower and co-founder and president emeritus of O-G Packing Co. in Stockton, CA, died in his Stockton home Nov. 25 following a long illness. He was 80. Regarded by his peers as an industry innovator and leader, Mr. Gotelli helped establish the California Cherry Advisory Board and is also credited with helping to develop and market the industry's first mechanical cluster cutter and cherry sizer. According to a company history on the O-G Packing web site, the Gotelli family "emigrated from Italy in the early 1900s to settle and plant cherries along the