It’s pedal to the metal time now that the number four Watermelon.org Chevy is hitting the NASCAR circuit for the National Watermelon Promotion Board. Stephanie Barlow, NWPB director of public relations and social media, said racecar driver Ross Chastain — who kicked off the NASCAR schedule in Richmond, VA, Talladega, AL and Dover, DE — now has his sights set on the Daytona 500 on July 4. Chastain’s action-packed schedule in the Watermelon.org Chevy concludes at the Darlington Raceway in South Carolina on Labor Day.

Veteran produce retailer Paul Kneeland is leaving Kings Food Markets, based in Parsippany, NJ, to lead fresh food merchandising for a new division of Ahold USA called Fresh Formats LLC.

Kneeland, whose last day at Kings is May 29, told The Produce News that he would become vice president of fresh merchandising for the division. He said the first store, which has yet to be named, is scheduled to open in Massachusetts at the end of the summer. He declined to provide further information about the store, other than to say it is “a new concept.”

The Arizona Food Safety Training Committee — otherwise known as the Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement — is introducing for sale a comprehensive food-safety training kit.

The company formerly known as Hugh H. Branch, Inc. recently announced a new trade-facing name, Branch: A Family of Farms and its shortened version, Branch.

The South Bay, FL-based company makes this change in an effort to be more encompassing of its long-withstanding network of famers and tell their rich history. The company wishes to not just call out its founder, Hugh Branch, but also all the farmers that have made up this operation from the beginning.

The potato is Ireland’s staple crop, and at the beginning of the 20th century the Emerald Isle had the highest potato consumption per capita in the world. Now a sweet potato grower in Sims, NC, is selling those sweet potatoes to Ireland.

Kristi Hocutt, sales manager at Triple J Produce Inc. in Sims, has begun selling its sweet potatoes to Ireland, Holland and the United Kingdom.

In early 2014, D’Arrigo Bros. Co. of New York Inc., located at the Hunts Point Produce Market, began a new tropical fruit and vegetable program. Just one year later, Vice President, Matthew D’Arrigo, told The Produce News that it’s doing very well and is now part of the company’s business along with its full line of fresh Eastern, Western and Texas vegetables and fruits.