A May 4 winner of a Republican primary election for a North Carolina Senate seat, watermelon grower-shipper Brent Jackson has learned a lot about politics in his first campaign for political office. Mr. Jackson told The Produce News May 18 that he was motivated to run because North Carolina, despite having agriculture as its primary industry, has few state leaders with an understanding of agricultural issues. Mr. Jackson is the founder, president and chief executive officer of Jackson Farming Co. Inc. in Autryville, NC. To his list of titles, Mr. Jackson added, "I'm mostly known as 'TWIC'

Representatives of the three major trade associations that co-launched the Produce Traceability Initiative announced that the steering committee has reaffirmed its commitment to whole chain traceability in the produce industry by 2012 but has relaxed some of the interim timelines to achieve the goal. Produce Marketing Association President Bryan Silbermann, United Fresh Produce Association President Tom Stenzel and Canadian Produce Marketing Association President Danny Dempster presented the redefined PTI in a 40- minute teleconference May 25 with the produce industry trade press. While they

TAMPA, FL -- In a worst-case scenario, Florida tomato growers who lost most of their winter crop now find they have no market for recovered spring plantings. With a mammoth glut coming on at once, tomatoes that cost at least $8 a box to produce were selling for $4 per box on May 25. To make matters worse, drenching rains have muddied fields and made harvesting even more costly. Two weeks of freezing weather in January devastated Florida tomatoes, and a too-cool spring delayed growth of salvaged and replanted crops. When hot weather finally came on, Mother Nature accelerated the growing program

Ray Roch, a longtime figure in fresh produce in Rhode Island, died Thursday, May 20, at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence following a stroke. He was 75. Mr. Roch's foray into fresh produce began when his father gave him a room in his West Warwick, RI, grocery store to sell fresh produce. Mr. Roch eventually ran the business, and today there remains the store in West Warwick — now called Roch’s Fruit & Produce Inc. — and Roch’s Produce store in nearby Narragansett, RI. Mr. Roch’s son, Ray Roch Jr., launched and owns the Narragansett store. Ray Roch Jr. told The Produce News that his father

At its annual meeting May 20 at Corral de Tierra Country Club in Salinas, CA, the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California installed Steve Church of Church Bros., also based in Salinas, as chairman of the board. Outgoing Chairman Lorri Koster, the second woman to hold the chairman's title in the organization's 80-year history and the third generation in her family to serve in the role, reflected on a year of unprecedented growth for the agricultural organization, briefed the membership on the association's activities, programs and services over the past year, and stressed the

Sun World International LLC is expanding the company's line of branded produce offerings with the reintroduction of the "Le Rouge Royale" sweet red pepper brand and “Le Jaune Royale,” its yellow pepper counterpart, just in time for the California pepper season. "The name 'Le Rouge Royale' still resonates with the trade today. We're hoping to build on that lasting brand impression and drive it to the consumer level with a refreshed logo, newly branded packaging and support of retailers' merchandising programs," Sun World Vice President of Sales & Marketing Gordon Robertson said in a May 24