Railex LLC has scheduled a second weekly unit train from its new Delano, CA, freight-forwarding facility. The firm, a division of Riverhead, NY-based ADS Management, will begin offering the expanded service the week of May 3, with trains departing Wednesdays and Fridays, according to Paul Esposito, senior vice president of sales and logistics. "The second train will offer the same consistent and expedited service that Railex has come to be known for over the past two-and-a-half years," Mr. Esposito told The Produce News. "We're very excited for new opportunities from the expanded service."

What is your produce shrink rate? What is your dollar loss from shrink? It's shocking that whenever I ask those questions, many people do not know the answers. Even some upper-management executives have little or no knowledge of their shrink loss. Furthermore, there are companies operating without any type of preventative monitoring program at all. Left unchecked, shrink can result in severe dollar losses. There's a saying, "One bad apple spoils the barrel." So, if there is a bad apple in a five-pound bag, should you throw away the entire bag regardless of whether all the others are good

A team of produce industry professionals announced April 15 the formation of a consulting group called FreshXperts, a comprehensive consortium that addresses the business development, management, marketing, distribution and retail merchandising needs of produce companies, their distributors and retailers. "The produce industry is constantly evolving, and companies must seek out fresh solutions to keep pace in an increasingly competitive market," Anthony Totta, business development and marketing expert for FreshXperts, said in an April 15 press release. "We help produce companies understand

A group of 65 volunteers from Stemilt Growers, headquartered in Wenatchee, WA, assembled April 18 at the waterfront of the company's Olds Station facility to give Mother Nature a helping hand. The volunteers removed noxious weeds, non-native blackberry bushes and other debris along the property, situated along the banks of the Columbia River. Once the cleanup was accomplished, the volunteers installed biodegradable erosion-control fabric and planted 160 native species along the shoreline and at the top of the bank. The project was the brainchild of Stemilt President West Mathison, who got a

A leading integrated grower-shipper of fresh produce from Mexico is expanding its efforts to provide enhanced, value-added service to its retail and foodservice customers. Farmer's Best, which has been in business for over 40 years, is planning marketing campaigns designed to help retailers sell more produce in a challenging economy. "Beyond a positive sales experience that we always try to deliver, we are also focusing now on providing creative tools to help our customers sell more produce to their customers," Jerry Wagner, director of marketing, said in an April 9 press release. "To that end

The 2009 California avocado season will be hitting full stride just in time for this year's Cinco de Mayo festivities, and the California Avocado Commission has put together a creative promotion plan to encourage avocado consumption around the May 5 celebration. Celebrity chefs, mouth-watering avocado recipes, public relations efforts and extensive on-line outreach will position California avocados top of mind for consumers. "This year's avocado consumption forecast for Cinco de Mayo festivities exceeds even February's big game, with just over 51 million pounds of avocados expected to be