Watsonville, CA-based Giant Berry Farms announced the promotion of Kristin Kleiber to marketing and sales analyst on April 6.

Arnold Mack, president and chief executive officer of McMelon Inc., said growing conditions for watermelon production point to a favorable Florida season. “The Florida crop is progressing quite well,” he told The Produce News in early April. “The crop is impressive looking. We should have some nice promotable volume.”

Looking at the industry as a whole, Mack said Florida production showed some activity at the beginning of April, and many of the state’s watermelon producers anticipating activity to ramp up during mid-April. “Everyone will be irrigating,” he said.

M. D’Ottavio Produce Inc. in Vineland, NJ, and Oakes Farms of Immokalee, FL, announced last September that they had formed a partnership wherein Oakes Farms would produce on over 600 acres in Immokalee under the “D’Ottavio” brand name.

In mid-March, Steve Veneziano, vice president of operations for Oakes Farms, told The Produce News that the partnership was off to a great start and both companies were looking forward to continued success moving forward.

Hapco Farms is looking forward to the start of its domestic watermelon deal, with product from south Florida expected to begin shipping late April.

Raquel Mello, who is in watermelon sales for the Riverhead, NY-based company, said that Florida melons have gotten off to a slow start this year due to colder-than-normal temperatures. Hapco is currently shipping Mexican and offshore melons.

“Our domestic melon program will run from late April through Labor Day, and we anticipate a good crop this year that is plentiful for all major holidays,” she said.

Southern Specialties, headquartered in Pompano Beach, FL, is moving blueberries steadily this season. Geno Valdes, vice president of sales and marketing for the company, said that the Florida movement marks the start of the domestic season.

Nevada-based Peri & Sons Farms is embracing the national movement to ‘eat brighter!’ by offering consumers a "Sesame Street" branded package of premium onions beginning in May 2015.