Hapco Farms, a leading East Coast vegetable shipper, is expanding its operations to include a new West Coast office under the direction of industry veteran Scott Norman.

Norman joined the Westhampton, NY-based company on Sept. 5 as a procurement and sales associate, and will operate from an office in the Salinas, CA, area where he lives. In his new role, he will be responsible for procuring fruits and vegetables from the West Coast and Mexico, and he will also handle sales west of the Rocky Mountains.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has imposed sanctions on three produce businesses for failing to meet contractual obligations to the sellers of produce they purchased and failing to pay reparation awards issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. These sanctions include suspending the businesses’ PACA licenses and barring the principal operators of the businesses from engaging in PACA-licensed business or other activities without approval from USDA.

The following businesses and individuals are currently restricted from operating in the produce industry:

The Food Lion Feeds Apple Bag campaign is back for its 10th year, aiming to help nourish neighbors experiencing hunger and address food insecurity. Food Lion Feeds is partnering with its customers to help provide a minimum of 1 million meals to neighbors facing hunger through its annual Food Lion Feeds Apple Bag campaign.

On April 1, 2023, Patricia Compres and Maria Bermudez celebrated their 10th anniversary since launching Advance Customs Brokers & Consulting.

“It’s been a very successful first 10 years,” Compres said. “We have a great team behind us and many loyal customers that keep us thriving.”

Though the Peruvian asparagus deal is very challenging this year with less overall volume, Square 1 Farms is anticipating an increase in its own offerings.

“Despite the many challenges the industry has been facing with asparagus this year, we’ve seen growth in overall market share and volume to the North American retail sectors,” said Tim Ryan, company founder and president.

Pompano Beach, FL-based Southern Specialties is anticipating a drop in volume this year of its Peruvian asparagus deal, but it still expects to maintain its market share as the entire deal has taken a volume hit.

“Volume is down significantly from Peru this year. El Nino temperatures and weather conditions are not helping the asparagus production,” said Carlos Solf, the company’s director of procurement, adding that the weather has resulted in “very low yields this year.”