Truck rates from west to east are currently between $8,000 and $9,000, and it is possible that the peak of the season in July and August may bring a five- figure rate for the first time in history. "We did see the rate move close to $10,000 a couple of weeks ago, but it backed off quickly," Bill Radoi, vice president of the produce division for Express Connection Inc., a truck broker operating from Ontario, CA, in the southern part of the state, told The Produce News. "I think it is possible that we could hit $10,000 this summer, but I think the average is still going to be around $8,000. Our

Imagination Farms continues to grow with the addition of "Pixie Sweet" snacking mini peppers from Frank's Distributing/Bionova Produce in Nogales, AZ. The "Disney Garden" brand Pixie Sweet peppers will be available in one-pint clamshells featuring the hallmark Tinkerbell packaging. All packaging will carry reminder copy of "Fairy Fun Snack" to tell kids and moms that these small peppers are perfect for snacking. The peppers will be available year round starting in July. "These peppers are a perfect size for kids, and the 'Pixie Sweet' branding is an excellent match for their sweet flavor,"

Scottsdale, AZ-based Martori Farms, a grower-shipper specializing in cantaloupe, watermelons and mixed melons, recently expanded its specialty melon program and added two industry veterans to its sales staff. Steve Koran joined Martori Farms as director of sales, effective June 1. Prior to Mr. Koran's arrival, Mike Elsen joined the company as a salesman in late April. Mr. Koran comes to Martori Farms from Salinas, CA-based Tanimura & Antle, where he worked for about four years and left as director of Western sales. Prior to T&A, he worked for Salinas-based companies Growers Express as director

Most of the major fast-food chains were starting to put sliced tomatoes back on their products by June 18, and Mexican tomatoes from FDA-approved areas in Baja California were being shipped again. It appears as if the tomato scare will not have the residual effect on consumers that the spinach crisis had two years ago. "It definitely has a different feel," Bob Newton, produce director of Associated Food Stores Inc., which services hundreds of retail outlets from its Salt Lake City, UT, hub, told The Produce News. "When we pulled the Romas and regular field-grown round tomatoes off the shelf

A devastating hailstorm that tore across New York state Monday, June 16, could reduce the state's apple crop by as much as 60 percent. "The storm swept across western New York," Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association in Fishers, NY, told The Produce News. "It moved from east of Buffalo across the main fruit belt area and hit south of Syracuse and the Hudson Valley. It was like the storm had radar for apples." Mr. Allen said that just two of the state's six apple-producing regions escaped damage. "We just lost a big part of our supply," he said. "We still have apples, but it's

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration indicated that one traceback in the foodborne illness outbreak linked to red round and Roma/plum tomatoes is complete to certain farms in both Mexico and Florida, but stressed that the contamination may not have occurred on the farm, according to a June 20 Issue Alert from the Produce Marketing Association. FDA is sending investigators to Florida and Mexico to look at the entire distribution chain to determine where contamination might have occurred. FDA indicated it believes the tomatoes were contaminated at a single point. FDA indicated that this will be a