A strike by farmworkers the week of March 16-20 in southern Baja California did cause some disruption of shipments of produce, but a couple of sources said it did not cause major problems.

David Castanedo, who is on the sales desk for Baja Best Distributing Inc. in San Diego, said the strike did not affect his firm’s farms in that region, nor the farms of most of the other major shippers of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and other vegetables.

Village Farms International Inc., with U.S. headquarters in Heathrow, FL, and Florida Organic Farms International LLC, located in Okeechobee, FL, jointly announced an exclusive distribution agreement between the two companies.

Following the sale of its auditing division to its former director of auditing operations, Primus Group is now looking to expand its service offerings.

While the Primus Group Inc. is best known for auditing, the firm’s core services actually include microbiological testing offered from seven facilities based in the United States and Mexico, data management, pesticide residue analyses and a service offering supply chain review for fresh produce suppliers.

If two trade associations, representing their respective industries, are right, the 152,000 convenience stores in the United States might soon help this nation increase its collective consumption of fresh produce and help stem the tide on the country’s obesity issue.

The United Fresh Produce Association and the National Association of Convenience Stores recently collaborated on a primer designed to build the business case for produce sales at convenience stores.

Whether she’s roping cattle in a rodeo, hunting with her dad and brothers, or working for her family’s business, Boskovich Farms Inc. in Oxnard, CA, 23-year-old Bridget Boskovich isn’t afraid to call the shots.

As the company’s new head of marketing and advertising, the young, go-getting produce professional comes with quite the impressive résumé.

As the California avocado season was getting into full swing in March, Bob Lucy, co-owner of Del Rey Avocado Co. Inc. in Fallbrook, CA, was optimistic that a very good season would ensue.

“Right now we have a very strong market and I expect that to continue. This should be a very good year,” he said.

Del Rey began marketing California fruit to select customers in late January as some wanted to feature California avocados for their promotions timed to coincide with the Super Bowl.