ORLANDO, FL -- Olivia's Organics, a prepackaged organic salad line owned by State Garden Inc. in Chelsea, MA, made a strong promotional push at the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit convention and expositon. Olivia's Organics was launched in early 2006 by Mark DeMichaelis, who is a family owner of State Garden, which was founded in Boston's Faneuil Hall 70 years ago. Olivia's Organics spokesperson Robin Whalen said that this is the DeMichaelis' family's first organic line. In an effort to "give back to the community," Ms. Whalen said, the DeMichaelis family gives a percentage of its

ORLANDO, FL -- Out of 23,000 acres of red potatoes grown in the Red River Valley this year, fewer than 200 acres were left in the field, according to Ted Kreis, marketing director for the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association in Grand Forks, ND. He said that late-season rains south of Fargo kept the harvest from reaching 100 percent. Mr. Kreis promoted Red River Valley potatoes at the PMA Fresh Summit with Greg Holtman, a salesman for Associated Potato Growers Inc. in Grand Forks, and T.J. Johnstone, vice president of sales of Tri-Campbell Farms in Grafton, ND. Mr. Holtman said that the

ORLANDO, FL -- Construction on greenhouses for tomato and bell pepper production is next on tap in the growth plans of Baby Fresh of Guatemala, based in Guatemala City. Antonio Jose Maldonado, vice president of Baby Fresh, told The Produce News at the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit convention, here, that the hydroponic greenhouses, built in Guatemala's highlands, would be harvesting for export in a year. "We look forward to taking care of our customers first, then expanding to other people," said Mr. Maldonado, who graduated in 2006 from Dallas' Southern Methodist University with

WASHINGTON -- Washington insiders affiliated with the produce industry say that the first test for a Democrat-controlled Congress and White House may be whether immigration reform ranks high on next year's agenda. "It's hard to say what the new majority in Congress will do," Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for the United Fresh Produce Association, based here, told The Produce News. But the first litmus test may be who sets the agenda among leaders in the White House, Senate and House and whether there's a strong commitment to tackle immigration reform, he said. There's

Quick, you have 10 minutes to make your pitch and then move on to the next potential candidate, with someone else following you to the seat you are currently occupying. Speed-dating has become a common way for single people to meet a mate. But the aforementioned scenario is not about dating, but rather buying produce in one New England state. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture adapted the concept to create a match- maker event to connect buyers and sellers of locally produced products. On Oct. 29, more than 40 buyers and 70 producers came together for five hours of match-making. Each of the

ORLANDO, FL -- Del Monte Foods, based in San Francisco, is offering several new and convenient value-added fruit products. At the Del Monte Foods booth at the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit, here, Xander Shapiro, produce business director of innovation, described these products. In July, Del Monte introduced red grapefruit slices, sold in a 20.5-ounce bowl. Rolling out in January will be two new refrigerated bowls of citrus: grapefruit duo (with red and white grapefruit slices) and citrus salad (with red and white grapefruit, and orange slices). The citrus bowls contain 4.5