Year-round availability of Honeycrisp apples will soon become a reality for some retailers and their apple-loving customers. Honeybear Marketing, owner of the commercial rights to the Chilean Honeycrisp, will bring its largest crop of Southern Hemisphere Honeycrisp apples to the United States in late April. This will enable Honeybear retailers to carry Honeycrisp until the grower’s domestic harvest is available in early Fall.

McEntire Produce, a leading family-owned, fresh-cut produce company based in Columbia, SC, is expanding its value-added “ChefBuddys” product line with the introduction of Southern Slaw, Coleslaw with a southern accent.

At an Orlando grocery store filled with Florida citrus, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the availability of $23 million in USDA funding to support research and extension projects for producers fighting citrus greening disease.

Huanglongbing, commonly known as citrus greening, threatens the future viability of the citrus industry in the United States, having infected more than 75 percent of the Florida citrus crop. This funding is available through the Citrus Disease Research & Extension Program, part of the 2014 farm bill.

Veg-Fresh Farms has hired Barry Parisotto as a vegetable commodity manager. For more than 18 years, Parisotto has served the fresh produce industry in a multitude of capacities, including sales, procurement, retail and organics.

As consumers begin bursting from their doors to enjoy the warm spring air, produce companies that produce and ship typical spring and summer crops will inevitably feel a strong push.

Scotlynn Sweet-Pac Growers LLC produces sweet corn, and it is a good example of a company that will likely reap the benefits of spring following the long, extremely cold winter storms that — one after another — swept across the nation.

Mastronardi Produce/Sunset, headquartered in Kingsville, Ontario, is strongly promoting its “Campari” and “Y.E.L.O.” tomato campaign. The company also plans to launch some exciting programs around these products at the CPMA Convention & Trade Show, April 15-17 in Montreal.