Border Cold Storage recently installed and commissioned an Ensure-FS ozone fumigation system manufactured by Guardian Manufacturing located in Cocoa, FL. This installation marks the first Ensure-FS system to be installed in the Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas, according to the company. Border Cold Storage is planning to improve product quality and increase hold time by reducing ethylene as well as mold and bacteria on stored fruits and vegetables from Mexico. This is just one part of Border Cold Storage's plan to improve food safety for product coming through the facility. Guardian's

REIDSVILLE, GA -- Shuman Produce will share details about its new food safety program along with new packaging at the company's booth at the Southeast Produce Council's expo Saturday, March 6, in Tampa, FL, part of the council's 2010 Retail & Foodservice Conference & Exposition, known as Southern Exposure. "We our increasing our transparency by becoming a member of Primus Labs platinum program," John Shuman, president and director of sales, said in a Feb. 3 press release. "We want our customers to know that all the onions they buy from Shuman Produce -- whether they are from Peru, Mexico

Homestead, FL-based Brooks Tropicals has introduced a new papaya box for its year-round movement of "Caribbean Red" papayas from Belize. "It is a display-ready, corner-post box," Mary Ostlund, director of marketing for Brooks Tropicals, told The Produce News Feb. 3, explaining that corner post refers to the small triangle that fits into the corner and acts as a post in the box to provide more rigidity and stability. According to Ms. Ostlund, the new "Caribbean Red" papaya boxes address the company's top priorities. "They provide the best in fruit protection," she said. "Our new corner post

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ -- A wide mix of imported fruit continues to grow wider for Fisher Capespan USA LLC, based here. The company announced Jan. 20 that it was making an immediate, solid move into a year-round international avocado program. But that's just part of the firm's story, according to Marc Solomon, president and chief executive officer, and Mark Greenberg, chief operating officer and senior vice president of procurement, who met with The Produce News Jan. 20 in Mr. Solomon's office. Showing a variety of fruits being handled by Fisher Capespan in mid-January, Mr. Solomon first pointed

It is unanimous: Foodservice operators nationwide were happy to bid farewell to 2009. Across the board, foodservice establishments were especially hard hit by the recession. It was a wake-up call for the industry -- with food and labor costs facing tough scrutiny. Today, many agree that the return of the back-to- basics operating principles are here for the long haul. With more modest business management mechanisms in place, operators have continued to examine the essentials, and the news is good for Idaho potatoes. In order to help foodservice professionals understand the tremendous value and

PHILADELPHIA -- A year from now, the Philadelphia produce industry should be settled into the world's largest and most-modern produce market. The new Philadelphia facility will enclose 687,000 square feet, all temperature- controlled, on a 50-acre site that is a few miles from the current market. Jimmy Storey, president of the board of directors of the Philadelphia Regional Produce Market, told The Produce News Jan. 20 that the new market's construction remains on schedule and that merchants should be ready to move into the market in September. But in the meantime, the last winter on the