The Hass Avocado Board in Irvine, CA, estimated that Super Bowl fans will consume 46.3 million pounds of Hass avocados "during this year's Big Game Day parties." That is a lot of guacamole, and it makes Super Bowl weekend a strong contender for the biggest weekend of the year for avocado consumption in the United States. It also comes during the peak of the season for Mexican avocados, and Mexican fruit represents a significant share of the market in the weeks leading up to the Feb. 1 Super Bowl festivities. According to the board, Mexican fruit is expected to account for more than half of the

Florida produce growers were taking precautionary measures to try to protect their crops as a cold snap descended upon the Sunshine State the week of Jan. 19. At the Florida Strawberry Association's office in Dover, FL, the temperature at 7:30 in the morning Jan. 21 was recorded at just under 27 degrees. "Our growers use the Florida Automated Weather Network to determine all the critical factors and to receive both warnings and scientific basis for when to take action," Ted Campbell, executive director of the association, told The Produce News Jan. 21. "Growers are engaging in heavy harvesting

MAITLAND, FL -- Fruit and vegetable producers on Thursday, Jan. 22 were assessing damages from overnight freezing temperatures across much of the state. Temperatures fell well below 32 for several hours, a situation that could cause severe damage and extensive crop losses, according to the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association. "It's early yet to know the full impact, but there was a combination of factors that made for a very long night for most growers," Lisa Lochridge, the association's public affairs director, said in a Jan. 22 statement. "Producers are used to dealing with whatever Mother

Whether running for a cause or finding other ways to help, Temecula, CA- based West Pak Avocado Inc. is contributing to charitable efforts. The company's first foray into the charitable realm was its participation in an annual five-kilometer road race in Temecula last fall on behalf of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization that bills itself as "the largest source of non-profit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world." The road race drew some 13,000 participants, including 22 West Pak employees and their families. West Pak entered as a group, and the company made

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ -- The season's first arrivals of South African organic grapes were set to arrive in mid-January, according to importer Marc Solomon. Mr. Solomon, president of Fisher Capespan, said that his firm has "a small program" for the Prime variety of white seedless organic grapes. He told The Produce News Jan. 8, meeting in the firm's office, here, that these South African grapes will be received through February. The fruit was set to arrive at Pt. Elizabeth, NJ, aboard the container ship Ngami about Jan. 13 or 14. The second set of containers bearing South African organic grapes

MONTEREY, CA -- The "plumbing" largely is in place to move forward with the broad initiative of produce traceability, according to Gary Fleming, the Produce Marketing Association's vice president of industry technology and standards. Mr. Fleming addressed an audience of more than 150 attendees Jan. 13 at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort & Spa, here. The daylong PMA Fresh Connections conference focused on the industry wide Produce Traceability Initiative, with Mr. Fleming giving a four-part presentation on traceability, GS1 DataBar barcoding, radio-frequency identification and data