Del Monte Fresh Produce announced that the its banana operations in Costa Rica (33 farms and 41 packinghouses, totaling 26,324 acres) achieved carbon neutrality certification by SCS earlier this year.

Tomorrow, April 22, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case pitting two California raisin growers against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the federal marketing order regulating raisins.

At issue is a provision of the California Raisin Marketing Order that allows the administrative committee of that order to take a percentage of raisins off the market each year.

The 2015 mango crop projections from Empacadoras de Mango de Exportación, the organization that represents Mexico’s mango export packing facilities, indicate this will be a significant year for Mexican mango production and for mango exports to the United States.

The Washington fresh apricot crop should hit the market by about the middle of June and be fairly close to the 642,000 24-pound cartons that were produced last year, according to James Michael, vice president of marketing for North America for the Washington State Fruit Commission.

Ready Pac Foods' newest products, which feature hemp as a key ingredient, hit Safeway's store shelves April 20. The company said its Hemp Caesar Salad Kit and Bistro Bowl Jamaican Style Jerk Hemp Seed Salad are the first mass-produced, ready-to-eat salad products to feature hemp.

Record numbers of attendees and exhibitors packed the Palais des congrès de Montréal April 15-17 for the Canadian Produce Marketing Association's 90th annual convention and trade show.