The Texas International Produce Association announced that this year’s Viva Fresh Open charity golf tournament will posthumously honor Ken Martin, founder of Rio Queen Citrus. The Ken Martin Viva Fresh Open will be held over two consecutive days on Thursday, April 21 and Friday, April 22 at Cowboys Golf Club, adjacent to the Gaylord Texan Resort.

The iceberg lettuce market was at $45-50 per carton on March 7, with many grower-shippers suggesting that the market will remain strong through the end of the winter vegetable deal in early April.

“We saw a meteoric rise in prices last week and there was no relief today,” said Mark McBride, veteran salesman at Coastline Family Farms, which is headquartered in Salinas, CA. “Today, (March 7) we are in the high $40s to low $50s, with some shippers quoting one price for any carton of iceberg they have — wrapped or naked, 24s or 30s. We are in pretty rare air.”

For operators and their customers, March roars in with two mango-related items worthy of their attention.

Fresh Innovations California's newest product – Apple Nachos Kits — combines fresh, tart apple slices from its Prize Slice retail brand with sweet and salty toppings in three different recipe varieties. Packaged in a convenient kit, everything needed for a sweet, fresh treat is ready to assemble and enjoy.

United Natural Foods, Inc. announced that Louis Martin has been appointed to the newly created position of chief strategy and transformation officer, with oversight of the company’s long-term growth strategy. Martin, who currently serves as president of the global Walmart customer team at The Coca-Cola Co., will join UNFI on March 21 and will report to Sandy Douglas, UNFI’s CEO.

AM FRESH Group and Special New Fruit Licensing announced a definitive agreement under which AM FRESH is acquiring International Fruit Genetics and merging it with SNFL, creating a combined company that significantly advances their abilities to further develop breeding capacities and add to their innovative portfolio to address unprecedented industry demand.