Austin Fowler has been in the apple business for a long time and has seen lots of trends, both short term, and long term. As the winter apple season approaches, one notable trend he is taking note of is a change in perception of several newer apple varieties.

Chiquita bananas, General Mills Big G cereals and Yoplait yogurt are joining forces with their “Go Bananas for Breakfast!” campaign to show that a balanced breakfast doesn’t have to be expensive or hard — sometimes it’s as simple as pairing a bowl of cereal, banana and a yogurt.

Catch shoppers' eyes with bright, Chiquita banana-inspired graphics on select General Mills Big G cereals and Yoplait yogurts at grocery stores nationwide.

The Chilean fruit season is underway and helping to transport the items coming to the United States is Krichmar Produce, a distributor which has a fleet of 19 trucks and 40 trailers — and growing every year.

Operating out of its Vineland, NJ headquarters, the company has a quarter century of experience delivering the best produce to customers from Florida to Maine — whether it’s Jersey Fresh items in the summer of the Chilean fruit that’s popular between now and May.

The Chilean produce season is just getting into full swing with cherries, blueberries and stone fruit being imported into the United States, with grapes not too far behind.

Persistent rains in California last week created a limited supply of various crops out west. According to Markon Cooperative reports, there will be little if any harvesting of strawberries from Oxnard and Santa Maria until the week of Jan. 10. Growers are transferring Mexican-grown fruit to supplement their California shipments through January, though transfers were limited last week as a result of Christmas and New Year’s Eve/Day holiday closures.

“Let’s put it this way — we’ve always got grapes,” said Louie Galvan, managing partner of Fruit Royale Inc. The company, based in Delano, CA, has been in the table grape business since 2004, but Galvan started in the produce industry in the early 90s.