As days passed following Hurricane Wilma's sweep through south Florida on Oct. 24, it became increasingly apparent that the damage was much worse than initially thought. For some growers, it caused a total loss of crops, and many are still assessing the damage a week later. "Our communications with our citrus and vegetable operations in south Florida have been difficult," said Susan Howard, director of corporate communications for A. Duda & Sons Inc. in Belle Glade, FL. "We were as prepared as possible, and we are recovering quickly to the structural damage sustained to our packinghouses and

FRESNO, CA -- As of Oct. 26, it had been five weeks since the official start of autumn. The frost is already on the pumpkins, so to speak, across much of the United States. But in California, one of the favorite produce items of summer -- California fresh grapes -- is still being picked, packed and shipped in abundance and variety. California grapes will, in fact, continue to be available throughout the remainder of the fall season and into early winter. Thanks in large part to the introduction in recent years of new late-season table grape varieties, California growers have been increasing

Grant Oswalt, a produce industry veteran with over 20 years experience, has joined the sales staff at Coastline Produce in Salinas, CA. He will focus on the company's broccoli and cauliflower accounts. Mr. Oswalt comes to Coastline from produce broker Fresh Network in Salinas. After a career mostly in the shipping side of the business, including a stint as sales manager for Duda's California operations, Mr. Oswalt said that he has "dipped his toe in the brokerage waters, but now I'm back to my roots. He added, "The growers have always been near and dear to my heart, so my training and

In early October, The Oppenheimer Group welcomed Barry Parisotto to its Los Angeles sales team. He fills the newly created position of organics category manager for the Vancouver, BC-based marketer. And, sales representative Josh Leichter was promoted to become Oppenheimer's director of sales-East Coast, another new position. "Expanding our organic product line has been part of our strategic vision for a long time," John Anderson, Oppenheimer's president, chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "Barry's expertise can help take us to the next level." Oppenheimer is already a category leader in

She was the "The Apprentice" candidate that TV-viewing audiences loved to hate when Donald Trump's reality series first aired on NBC in 2003. Since being told "You're fired!" by The Donald, however, Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth has parlayed her dismissal into a promising career, making guest appearances on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and other highly rated talk shows; providing commentary on other reality programs; and filming a pilot series with Jerry Springer. And on Sunday, Nov. 6, she will be greeting visitors to the Red Zoo Marketing and Oppenheimer Group booths at the Produce

No Wimpy allowed. No Olive Oyl, Swee'Pea or Nana Oyl either. Just Popeye. Salinas, CA-based River Ranch Fresh Foods has decided to pin its hopes on Popeye's massive forearms by introducing a repackaged line of Popeye Fresh! Foods using Popeye's image only. Unlike the old packaging, the redesigned packaging will allow the consumer an ample view of the product inside the bag. There's also a new color scheme and consumer-friendly descriptions of product that make it easy to understand what's in the bag and how the product is used. An example is the wording on its baby spinach kit bags that reads