Dominic Russo always knew that he was meant for a life in the produce industry. Mr. Russo, 26, has been buying and selling for Rocky Produce Inc. on the Detroit Produce Terminal for almost seven years. Before that, he put in some time at the receiver-distributor, owned and operated by his family, "every day in the summertime and after school ever since I was a little kid." He remembers restacking pallets of 10-pound boxes of limes, emptying garbage cans, sweeping floors and answering phones from about age six. "I graduated to loading and unloading trucks when I was about 12," he said. Mr

With a March 31 deadline, entries were still coming in for the Idaho Potato Commission?s Potato Lovers Month display contest when The Produce News spoke with Seth Pemsler, the commission?s vice president of retail merchandising, on March 30. But with two days remaining, "right now we are sitting at 1,573 [entries], so we have basically doubled the best year we have ever had," Mr. Pemsler said. Previously, "the most entries we have ever had was 800," he said. Last year?s contest brought in 635 entries, while the previous year had just 250 entries. This is the 14th year for the commission?s

As New Zealand apple growers harvested the season?s first Royal Galas, their currency hit a 10-year high against the U.S. dollar, setting the stage for reduced pipfruit volumes in North America relative to last year. The New Zealand dollar weakened slightly after Easter, but the draw of the euro is still strong for most exporters. And although the national crop size has decreased, Enza remains committed to North America, according to David Nelley, pipfruit category director for the Oppenheimer Group, Enza?s North American marketing partner. The two companies have marketed New Zealand apples

FRESNO, CA " George Rossi, formerly in sales at Farmington Fresh in Stockton, CA, has joined the sales and marketing team at Crown Jewels Marketing & Distribution, here, according to the company?s Atomic Torosian. Mr. Rossi, who worked in apple and cherry sales at Farmington Fresh during the last two seasons, "is no stranger to cherries, apples, pears and wine grapes," Mr. Torosian said. Mr. Rossi grew up on a farm in Lodi, CA. After studying agribusiness, marketing and farm management at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA, he went to work for C.H. Robinson Co. in the San Francisco Bay area and

Although the USDA?s National Organic Program has brought some consistency and order to the U.S. organic industry, a lack of harmonization of organic standards internationally has caused some confusion in the marketplace. Summing up the problem was USDA Public Affairs Specialist Joan Shaffer, responding in writing to a question about the validity of U.S. organic certification when a U.S. product is sold to the European Union. "The EU does not recognize the U.S. standards as equivalent, and the United States does not recognize the EU standards. The bottom line is that an exporter must always

The Central American Free Trade Agreement, which is largely supported by the U.S. fresh fruit and vegetable industry, may have a tough time in Congress when it begins ratification hearings in April. Ken Gilliland, director of international trade for Irvine, CA-based Western Growers Association, said that WGA has publicly supported CAFTA "as there is no downside for our members." Mr. Gilliland explained that because of the Caribbean Basin Initiative of the 1980s, the countries involved in CAFTA " Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic " already enjoy