GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ -- The South African citrus industry has invested heavily to meet the special requirements and demands of serving the U.S. market. Details of those efforts were outlined to The Produce News Feb. 11 in the Gloucester City offices of one of South Africa's citrus importers, Fisher Capespan U.S.A. LLC, by two key leaders of the Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum, headquartered in Citrusdal, South Africa. Piet Smit, the Western Cape forum's managing director, and Gerrit van der Merwe, chairman of the forum, described the measures the South African industry is applying to

From his in-store vantage point, produce clerk Ray Ortega can see that a good many consumers are confused about the produce they buy. They are not even that sure how to tell if an apple is good, let alone how to pick a ripe coconut or a juicy pineapple. "Over and over again, I'd hear the same questions," said Mr. Ortega. And it didn't really matter where he worked. He started his produce association at an Albertson's store in the San Francisco Bay area while in college in his mid-20s. High-end Bay area retailer Andronico's and one of its produce departments provided him with employment as he

Integrated Fresh Solutions, a marketer of fresh tomatoes to the wholesale, retail and foodservice industries, announced Feb. 11 that it has formed a new company, Fresh Link Tomato, which provides sourcing opportunities from major tomato-growing regions. IFS, a holding company based in Dallas, owns a portfolio of companies that are vertically integrated in the produce supply chain. Michael Leach, vice president of IFS, said that the inspiration behind the formation of the new company comes from the dramatic changes the tomato business has been experiencing. "Changes are taking place both in the

MIRABEL, QC -- Along with celebrating its 20th year in business, HydroSerre Mirabel Inc. has added and promoted a number of key staffers. The company is known for its hydroponic lettuce grown with floating-raft technology in greenhouses here, and it will begin using the process later this year at a new facility in Rickman, TN. Among the staff changes, Pierre Dolbec, director of sales and marketing, was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing; Richard Lamouche, director of administration and finance, was promoted to vice president of administration and finance; Michel Blanchette was

WASHINGTON -- Producers are expressing outrage over a U.S. Department of Agriculture plan to collect $10 million in user fees to help finance enforcement of the new country-of-origin labeling measure. This comes as the produce industry is left guessing what the final COOL program may look like. "It's shocking that the president would pledge to veto any legislation that increases taxes, yet propose a new tax to implement country-of-origin labeling," National Farmers Union President Tom Buis said in a statement. "It's one thing for Congress to mandate country-of-origin labeling so consumers can

NEWARK, DE -- Produce Marketing Association has announced that Julia Stewart has joined the association staff to manage its public relations and crisis communications activities. As the association's new public relations director, the former Julia Daly will work with PMA staff and management to direct the association's integrated communications with members and other publics, serve as a media spokesperson, and direct PMA's crisis prevention, mitigation and management activities. "Julia adds another tremendous industry asset to the PMA staff at a time when the association's communications with