Included in the exorbitant costs that fruit and vegetable growers currently face are the third-party audits associated with food safety. The problem has even been tagged "audit fatigue" by industry professionals. But tomato representatives from Florida and California are now attempting to find relief from the condition. Reggie Brown, manager of the Florida Tomato Committee in Maitland, FL, told The Produce News, "We are currently meeting with the California tomato industry in an effort to rework the third-party audit guidance document. Our goal is to develop a common platform for tomato

PHILADELPHIA -- At the annual preseason Chilean fruit meeting, held here Oct. 26, the 90 importers, service suppliers and regulatory people in attendance learned that there is a likelihood of seeing the Chilean table grape access to the U.S. market become more restricted after April 1. The Chilean fruit meeting was presided over by Tom Mastromarco, president of the Chilean & American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, which hosted the meeting. Mr. Mastromarco is also director of fruit marketing and customer service for Gloucester Marine Terminal LLC in Gloucester City, NJ. David

SHERMAN OAKS, CA -- Mark Tompkins is the new director of domestic sales for Sunkist Growers, part of a realignment of responsibilities as John McGuigan leaves his position as vice president fresh fruit sales at the end of this year, announced Russ Hanlin, Sunkist's senior vice president of sales and marketing. "After 25 years working for the growers of Sunkist I feel that now is the right time for me to evaluate new opportunities and to consider in what direction to focus my drive and energy moving forward," Mr. McGuigan said in a Nov. 7 statement. "Sunkist is a special and rewarding place to

HOUSTON -- Consumer research and analysis of scan data reveal that the fresh-cut category continues to be in a very strong growth mode, and produce suppliers should continue to look for new opportunities in this arena. At least that was the major take-home point during a workshop at the recent Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit, here, that covered the shopping and buying habits of American consumers. Steve Lutz and Jonna Parker of the Perishables Group presented the results of their research, which polled 3,000 consumers and analyzed scan data from 13,000 retail operations. Mr. Lutz

Selah, WA-based Rainier Fruit Co. recently announced that it expects to market over 500,000 euro cartons of Honeycrisp apples during the 2007-08 shipping season, a significant increase over last year. Due in part to young orchards coming into production, this year's crop is also producing exceptionally large fruit, resulting in good promotion opportunities. Moreover, supplies should run through March, a full two months longer than the 2006 crop. "We can't recall another variety that has achieved this kind of popularity and demand so quickly," Suzanne Wolter, director of marketing at Rainier

HOUSTON -- Seald Sweet International LLC, based in Vero Beach, FL, has gained a lot of publicity in recent years for being a subsidiary of Uni-Veg Group, based in Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium, which operates in 22 countries, owns dozens of major produce companies around the world and is linking those firms, including Seald Sweet, to be a global produce network. Mayda Sotomayor, who in September became chief executive officer of Seald Sweet, acknowledged that being part of this worldwide link is very exciting. But when she sat for a few moments to speak with The Produce News during the Produce