For several years, a NASCAR sponsorship was a big part of the Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association's promotional efforts. For the 2008-09 season, MHAIA stepped away from NASCAR and began looking instead for what MHAIA Chairman Mike Browne, vice president of fresh operations for Calavo Growers Inc. in Santa Paula, CA, referred to as "another Super Bowl" -- another seasonal event around which could be built an avocado promotion as successful as the Super Bowl weekend promotional period has been for avocados in general and Chilean avocados in particular. With continued growth in Mexican

Bob Halvorson Jr., who was appointed chairman of the Washington State Potato Commission July 1, resigned his position following his July 5 arrest on assault charges. Ted Tschirky, first vice chairman of the commission, has assumed the chairmanship. "The commission has been in touch with Bob and has accepted his resignation," Karen Bonaudi, assistant executive director of the commission, told The Produce News Aug. 4. According to Ms. Bonaudi, Mr. Halvorson was arrested following an altercation with a family member over the July 4 holiday weekend. Ms. Bonaudi said the family member suffered a

PLANT CITY, FL -- He grew up working on an avocado farm in Homestead, FL, and planned to pursue an industrial engineering degree at the University of Florida, while his father hoped he would follow along in the family accounting business. But instead, J.R. Pierce became a police officer. As a kid growing up in Homestead, Mr. Pierce worked odd jobs in local nurseries and spent summers working in the fields at a family friend's avocado farm. Meanwhile, his father, a certified public accountant, did taxes for local farmers and hoped his son would follow the same path. "I'm good with numbers, but

Pacific International Marketing, based in Salinas, CA, is celebrating its 20th anniversary by making a strong commitment to the produce industry: The company has pledged $250,000 to support the Produce Marketing Association's Foundation for Industry Talent. The contribution helps the foundation's capital campaign surpass the $4 million mark along the way to its $5 million goal. The group will close the campaign after the conclusion of PMA's Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition, Oct. 2-5 in Anaheim, CA. "Human capital is everything to our business, and we are facing a shortage of

As the packingsheds in the southern part of the Mexican state of Sinaloa close for the season, mango supplies are dropping a bit and prices should strengthen, according to a number of U.S. mango importers. The majority of the production has now shifted to the Las Mooches area in northern Mexico, which is a Medfly-free zone. Typically in mid-August, fly finds in the southern region begin to close those packingsheds as fruit from acreage that has had multiple finds is ineligible to be brought into the sheds where the hot-water treatment is being performed. Some importers said that the multiple

WASHINGTON -- With President Obama traveling to Mexico for a high-level summit, the produce industry is hoping the administration will bring a proposal to end Mexico's retaliatory tariffs against agricultural products put into place after a Mexican trucking program was abandoned earlier this year. "At this point, we've heard there's a proposal, but it has not been shared with the private sector," said Ken Barbic of the Western Growers Association, who started last month as the group's new director of federal government affairs in Washington, DC. Congress killed a two-year-old pilot program