It is vital that fresh imported fruit is managed through a streamlined process to minimize delays and complications, and to keep the produce at the peak of freshness. This is what Customized Brokers, headquartered in Miami, does every day, 24 hours a day, year-round.

Nelly Yunta, vice president, said that in the brokerage services arena, a streamlined process is one that is fast, effective and eliminates unnecessary steps to ensure that cargo is released as quickly as possible.

North American consumers will have a chance to color up their plates in 2015 with pink onions. Joanne Steele, president of Tomato Specialists Inc., said this is the first full season the company will make the onion available to its customers.

“Pink onions are a breed,” she told The Produce News. “We started sourcing [from England] last year.”

Tomato Specialists is headquartered in Lehigh Acres, FL, and is celebrating its 27th anniversary this year.

California will start shipping some onions in early April from Mexico and begin with its own shipments from the Imperial Valley toward the latter part of the month. The early-season onions are expected to be in good supply, but when the harvest moves to the San Joaquin Valley, lack of rain and good water could play a major role in decreased supplies.

On the first day of spring, temperatures hovered in the low 30s in New York and were even lower in surrounding states, as the entire region was hammered once again by a snow storm. It fell on the heels of numerous other snowfalls that, since January, dumped dozens of inches of snow in the Northeast.

Despite the March 20 storm, those in the produce industry greeted spring with positive thoughts of warm weather to come.

In Consumer Reports’ new supermarket survey, Wegmans, Publix and Trader Joe’s remain at the top of the ratings of 68 of stores nationwide. Also earning high overall satisfaction scores were Fareway Stores, Market Basket (Northeast), Costco and Raley’s. Once again Walmart Supercenter landed at the bottom, along with A&P and Waldbaums, two smaller regional chains.

The Vision Cos. are adding another item to their extensive list of grower-direct deals with an exclusive shadehouse cucumber program starting mid-April in Caborca, Mexico.