Southern Specialties Inc., headquartered in Pompano Beach, FL, has added Florida-grown grape and teardrop tomatoes to its "Southern Selects" specialty tomato lineup. The new additions include "Southern Selects" conventional red grape tomatoes as well as "Southern Selects" organic red grape tomatoes and yellow grape tomatoes. The company will also introduce "Southern Selects" organic red and yellow teardrop tomatoes, which are available in a conventional style as well. Southern Specialties has produced a new label for the "Southern Selects" organic tomato line that shares a "family feel" with

ROTTERDAM, NY - Railex LLC has a ticket for The History Channel's new show "Extreme Trains." Paul Esposito, senior vice president of sales and logistics for Railex, told The Produce News that the firm, a division of Riverhead, NY-based ADS Management LLC, would be featured on an upcoming episode of the show. The episode, named "Ice Cold Express," will air Dec. 2 at 10 p.m. Eastern time/9 p.m. Central time and will feature Railex's Produce Rail Express, which is brought across country from its Wallula, WA, distribution center by the Union Pacific Railroad and CSX Transportation to its

HARTFORD, CT -- Harvest New England has announced that its 2009 Agricultural Marketing & Trade Show will be held Feb. 24-26 at the Sturbridge Host Hotel in Sturbridge, MA. "This conference is an excellent opportunity for agricultural producers to learn from some of the finest experts in the field about a diverse range of marketing topics," Robert Pellegrino, president of Harvest New England and director of marketing for the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, said in a press release. "Our last conference attracted over 700 producers from all over New England, who provided extremely positive

Supreme Cuts, a distributor of fresh-cut produce products based in Mahwah, NJ, introduced a "steaming bag" packaging for three of its popular products. The first three Supreme Cuts products available utilizing this new steaming bag packaging technology are snipped green beans, wax beans and rainbow medley, a mix of yellow and green beans with carrots. The products steam perfectly in the microwave in minutes, making them an easy way to get the benefits of freshly steamed vegetables, which have been proven to preserve nutrients and are a great option for healthier meals. The new Supreme Cuts

The National Watermelon Association Inc., with collaboration from academia, government, industry, retail, foodservice and other trade associations, unveiled the first edition of a comprehensive food-safety program that is specific to the growing, handling, packing, distribution and traceability of the watermelon crop in North America and Central America. "Watermelons are considered to be one of the high-risk crops, largely due to our crop's inclusion in the melon category by the Food & Drug Administration," Bob Morrissey, executive director of the association, said in a Nov. 19 press release.

SALINAS, CA -- Bob Jenkins, president and chief executive officer of River Ranch Fresh Foods LLC, based here, has resigned from the company. Bruce Knobeloch, vice president of marketing, told The Produce News that Mr. Jenkins resigned as part of a "planned transition with the board of directors" and that Nov. 7 was his last day. Mr. Knobeloch said that the company's board of directors is going through a process of identifying candidates to replace Mr. Jenkins and that there is no timetable for that process to conclude. Although Mr. Jenkins is no longer part of daily operations, he's still