QUITO, ECUADOR -- George Staby thrust the temperature probe into the bucket of flowers as a hushed crowd of about 30 people encircled him. A rare smile flitted across his face a few beats later as he withdrew the instrument and read its dial. "OK," he said. "Thirty-four degrees -- right as rain." The group let out a collective sigh and Victor Ponce, general manager at the Rosen Tantau flower farm in Quito, Ecuador, wiped a hand across his brow. He was only half- kidding. The exercise was not academic. About 60 percent of the flowers from these and other farms in Ecuador are shipped to the

The California cherry season is expected to get underway this year about April 24 with the earliest varieties, Brooks and Sequoia, followed shortly by Tulare. From then through most of the month of April, those and other early varieties grown in the southern half of the San Joaquin Valley -- basically from Arvin, Maricopa and Bakersfield north to Fresno and Madera -- will constitute the first half of the season. Those varieties will be followed by Bings in the northern district around Linden, Stockton and Lodi, beginning at the end of May and rising to peak production during the first three

Monique McLaws, marketing manager for Dulcinea Farms in Ladera Ranch, CA, said that company staff will be available at the United Fresh Produce Association show April 21-25 in Las Vegas, NV, to talk with retailers and buyers about the many ways marketing support can build bottom lines. "Every dollar is going to count. During 2009, let's hunker down and get back to basics," she told The Produce News. "The show is going to really reflect what we are doing right now with marketing support. United really helps with the changing landscape." Dulcinea works with its retail partners to move PureHeart

Progreso Produce, based in Boerne, TX, announced that it has entered into an exclusive sales and marketing agreement with Skyline Produce LLC, based in Hatch, NM, whereby it will market red, white, yellow and sweet onions in bulk and consumer packs. Skyline Produce grows approximately 500 acres of onions and has been in business for about 10 years, but the principals of Skyline, like Progreso, have a long history in the onion industry. Gary Palmer, sales manager at Progreso Produce, said in a press release, "We have a family history with the staff of Skyline that goes back over 25 years. We

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Food & Drug Administration found four Salmonella samples in the California plant of Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., sending federal health officials to check to see if illnesses match the Salmonella serotype Montevideo strain. Three environmental samples and one finished roasted product tested positive for Salmonella Montevideo, one of the four strains detected on Kraft Foods' mixed nut product, according to David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods at the FDA. Federal officials are checking databases to see if any illnesses can be tied to the pistachios, he

In addition to the March 18 announcement that Brad Watson had joined the management team of J.C. Watson Co. in Parma, ID, the company unveiled its new logo, a quartet of onions with the proclamation, "Four Generations of Family Pride." The 26-year-old Mr. Watson is the fourth generation of his family to be part of the Idaho-Eastern Oregon onion industry, according to his father, Jon C. Watson. "Brad is our new operations manager," Jon Watson told The Produce News April 3. He added that the year-round onion shipper, which has been a Trading Member of the Blue Book since 1929, would make good