In a move that signals the company's continuing fresh approach to produce marketing, RJO Produce Marketing in Fresno, CA, announced the hiring of Scott Zeier as vice president. RJO President John O'Rourke said that Mr. Zeier's 30-year retail produce career brings additional retail produce marketing expertise to the company. "Hiring Scott is a move that strengthens our approach to serving retailers," Mr. O'Rourke said in a statement. "His depth of knowledge and experience with day-to-day retail operations gives us a significant advantage in understanding our retail customers' needs." Mr. Zeier

The Florida Fruit & Vegetable Research & Education Foundation has been renamed the Florida Specialty Crop Foundation, Executive Director Mike Carlton announced. The name change is part of a reorganization that began when Mr. Carlton was named as the foundation's first full-time executive director in January. "The new name clearly and succinctly focuses on the scope of the foundation's mission and membership," Mr. Carlton said in a statement. The changes were prompted by the board of directors' goal of expanding the foundation's role in research, education and philanthropic support of the

Three food-safety bills drafted in response to last year's E. coli outbreak that was traced to Salinas Valley-grown leafy greens appear to have died in the California Legislature. California state Sen. Dean Florez (D-16th) pushed the bills that would have created a new inspection system for leafy green growers and handlers through the Senate but could not drive them by Assembly member Nicole Parra, a critic of Mr. Florez's legislation and chair of the powerful Agriculture Committee. The three bills would have allowed the state to recall or destroy products that pose a threat, mandate good

A good-sized U.S. grocery chain redid its produce signage a couple of years ago at a cost that probably came close to a half-million dollars -- if not more. "We did our research, got numerous bids and made our choice," said this chain's vice president of produce, who requested anonymity because going through the channels to get approval for public comments is a time- consuming process. And it was a very important decision. "We were redoing our departments, and the signage didn't convey the message we wanted to convey to our customers. Frankly, they were a little tired," he said of the plastic

PHILADELPHIA -- A new refrigerated warehouse in Brooklyn, MI, is serving the interests of sister produce marketing companies in Toronto and Philadelphia. Tom Leonardi, vice president of Fresh Taste Produce USA & Associates Inc., here, said that the warehouse, which is operating as a separate company called Produce Depot, is being used in a variety of consolidation, shipping and marketing means by his firm and Fresh Taste Produce Ltd. in Toronto. The Michigan location is primarily geared to help Toronto's logistics, Mr. Leonardi noted, but the Philadelphia office is using the location to save

Its harvest is some three months away, but a new late-season green seedless table grape called Pristine is creating a stir. Pristine was developed by Delano, CA-based Anton Caratan & Son after more than 20 years and more than 225,000 crossbreeds. The result is a new late variety that produces large, crispy grapes that have characteristics retailers covet, including long shelf life. Anton Caratan & Son has granted a license to Four Star Sales Inc. and Delano Farms -- both based in Delano -- to grow and market Pristine in the United States, and has licensed Visalia, CA-based Sun Fresh