WASHINGTON -- Specialty crop producers hailed the Bush administration's new farm bill proposal, saying it would significantly expand nutrition and key market promotion programs and call for new spending of $5 billion over 10 years to help growers. "The specialty crop growers across the country are appreciative of USDA for taking important first steps to address the needs of specialty crop producers as they work to improve the competitiveness of our industry," said Mike Stuart, president of Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association and co-chair of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance. Mr. Stuart

RonProCon, a produce industry consulting firm founded by Ron Pelger, has enlisted the services of three industry professionals to better serve its clients. Founded in 1998 by Mr. Pelger, who has more than 30 years of experience as a retail produce executive, the firm specializes in helping companies maximize sales and efficiency by keeping abreast of the latest trends in the industry. Mr. Pelger, who serves as the president and chief executive officer of RonProCon, is joined at the firm by Dick DelGizzi, vice president of field operations. Mr. DelGizzi is a "hands-on merchandising expert known

The produce industry lost "a kind, Southern gentleman" in Warren S. Wheeler, chief executive officer of the company that bore his name and that he founded in 1962 on the Tampa Wholesale Produce Market, who recently died from congestive heart failure. He was 88 years old. "Our dad was a real great produce guy," said his son Jimmy Wheeler, co-vice president of Warren Wheeler Inc., who, along with his brothers Mike, the company's president, and Bill, the other co-vice president, began working for their father in the early 1970s. "Words can't describe the love we had for my dad. He wouldn't even

HANFORD, CA -- Warmerdam Packing LLC, here, has developed an innovative way to heat its stone fruit ripening rooms and reduce the cost of operating the rooms in the process. It uses waste heat generated by the existing refrigeration systems used for cooling in the company's cold-storage facility. "Our whole industry here in the Central [San Joaquin] Valley has been doing different forms of preconditioning or ripening of stone fruit," said Mr. Hovsepian. Like other companies, Warmerdam has been doing some ripening and had been using some of its cold rooms, which were also used for controlled-

Salinas, CA-based NewStar Fresh Foods has announced the launch of an iceless 2.25-pound sleeved asparagus pack set to hit the national market in late February. Capitalizing on the increasing popularity of its one-pound sleeved asparagus, NewStar will introduce the new 2.25-pound sleeved asparagus to select club stores. John Killeen, vice president of sales and marketing for NewStar, said that customers of the iceless 2.25-pound sleeved asparagus pack would include club stores or any box store looking for large quantities. "The asparagus sleeve retains moisture and gives the asparagus a longer

After a year of research and development, Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. is preparing to reap the fruits of its labor when it launches its new "Grower's Reserve" line in early March. Initially comprised of six all-natural, no-sugar-added, refrigerated juices, the line, which is the first "Ocean Spray"-branded, refrigerated juice program available in produce departments, will be available from Maine south to the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area and west to Ohio. According to Mark Sherburne, general manager of produce for the Lakeville-Middleboro, MA- based cranberry cooperative, the line is