With a continuing focus on regional retail, Fagerberg Farms/Fagerberg Produce in Eaton, CO, kicked off the 2021 onion shipping season with its full slate of conventional varieties on Aug. 16, with organics to follow in September.

Agrokasa is expected to more than double its blueberry export shipments this season, with a similar increase expected next year.

José Antonio Castro, director of the Lima, Peru-based grower-shipper-exporter of avocados, table grapes and asparagus, told The Produce News that the addition of blueberries several years ago both expands the company’s risk management portfolio and allows for better utilization of its labor force.

With about three-quarters of its annual volume already picked and packed, and running a bit behind 2020 numbers, the California strawberry industry is expecting a strong final quarter allowing volume to surpass last year’s total.

Through the week ended Aug. 21, California had sent close to 150 million trays of fruit to market, which represents about a 4.5 percent decline from the previous year. By the end of the third week of 2020, California’s strawberry growers had marketed more than 157 million trays of fruit on the way to a crop that exceeded 200 million trays.

Christopher Ranch is among the nation’s largest garlic growers, and while it does ship a variety of products, garlic represents more than 90 percent of its business.

West Pak Avocado, a global supplier of fresh avocados, welcomed Stephen Sheldon as director of global sourcing. In his new position, he will lead and manage the strategic planning, budgeting, and execution of sourcing from global regions, including California, Mexico and South America.

The United Fresh Produce Association has published the sixth edition of its Produce Industry Compensation & Benefits Report, an expansive research resource that assists produce industry employers in understanding critical compensation benchmarks.