At a special teleconference meeting, the Western Growers Association board of directors voted to immediately initiate the California marketing agreement and marketing order process to establish mandatory Good Agricultural Practices for the lettuce and leafy greens industries. In addition, at the Oct. 26 meeting, the board voted to initiate a federal marketing order process to develop a comprehensive national spinach and leafy greens GAPs order. WGA President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Nassif explained that the dual effort is designed to address the immediate concern that surfaced in

With a nearly 100 percent increase in volume over 2005, the Zespri gold kiwifruit season from New Zealand is now wrapping up. But gold kiwifruit aficionados won't have to wait until next year to enjoy this tropical-sweet sensation. California gold kiwifruit will hit the market in early November, and for the first time ever, gold kiwifruit is now available in smoothie form as an ingredient in the Naked Juice Co.'s new Gold Machine. Zespri gold kiwifruit is taking its hold across the continent, according to Karen Brux, North America manager for Zespri International Ltd. With its unique tropical

SAN DIEGO -- Putting "Ripe" stickers on avocados that are ripe and ready to use creates a "call to action" that motivates consumer purchases and results in increased avocado sales in retail stores, according to Jan DeLyser, vice president of marketing for the California Avocado Commission, based in Santa Ana, CA. In a recent study, "the stores that had the stickered fruit outperformed the stores without the stickered fruit almost 13 percent," Ms. DeLyser told The Produce News at the CAC booth during the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit, here, Oct. 23. "If we tell the consumers" that

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has eased the import restrictions put in place in September as a result of the outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 associated with fresh spinach. Imports of fresh spinach (including salad mixtures containing spinach) from the United States will now be allowed entry, with the exception of product grown in the San Benito and Monterey counties in California. After the original detection of the outbreak, the CFIA promptly issued an advisory warning Canadians not to consume spinach from the United States, a health hazard alert to identify the products for Canadian

Retailers need to act now if they want to take advantage of a national promotional opportunity with proven sales results. National Apple Month is an outstanding promotional foundation for the domestic apple industry. The program has been in operation for more than 100 years and has evolved from a single-day event to a three-month promotional marketing opportunity for retail stores and military commissaries nationwide. It is not too late to capitalize on the fall merchandising and display benefits of the 2006 National Apple Month contests. The 2006 retail and military contests run through Nov

WASHINGTON -- News that a new Salmonella outbreak is no longer a threat to consumers is little consolation to a produce industry struggling to recover from the crippling e. coli outbreak tied to fresh spinach. Federal officials have yet to announce the food vehicle that sickened more than 170 people in 19 states with a strain of Salmonella Typhimurium since Sept. 1, but sources say that preliminary information from the two-week-long investigation points to lettuce and tomatoes as possible sources. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, which is taking the lead in the investigation