The Women’s Fresh Perspectives breakfast was held Friday, Oct. 17, shortly before the PMA Fresh Summit kicked off. Attendees had the opportunity to gain career insights from keynote speaker Claire Shipman, ABC News contributor and New York Times best-selling author.

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ANAHEIM, CA — The reach of customs house broker OHL International spans a wide representation of global trade. Similarly, in OHL’s Philadelphia office, Ed Fitzgerald, assistant vice president, has a broad feel for the outlook for fruit imports for the Northeastern United States.

RIO RICO, AZ — Mexican watermelon prices are approaching record highs for this time of year, according to Jerry Havel, director of sales and marketing for produce distributor Fresh Farms.

In an Oct. 28 interview at his office, here, Havel said the prices in the range of 28 cents to 30 cents a pound for seedless watermelons were almost unheard-of. He wasn’t sure of the all-time high price for late October, but said this range was sure to match, if not exceed, the historical high.  

The excitement has been escalating for some time at Red Sun Farms, a Kingsville, ON-based distributor of a full line of greenhouse-grown vegetables, over its new Dublin, VA, greenhouse, where production includes both conventional and organic produce.

“Our entire sales staff was on hand to represent Westmoreland Sales/TopLine Farms at the PMA Fresh Summit,” said Jimmy Coppola, account and marketing manager for the Leamington, ON-based company. “Besides myself, on hand at the Summit was Max Mastronardi, Tony Cappelli and Lisa Sirizzotti, all account managers. Also in attendance to greet and meet with visitors was Dino DiLaudo, account and sales manager; Matt Wright, procurement and grower liaison; Ken Green, president; Ruben Aboytes, grower liaison; and Andre Escobar, general manager of the Texas division.”

With almost 50 years in building packing equipment, Kerian Machines Inc. — at least for this year —- is focused on a subtle design change to improve its business offering.

Company owner James Kerian indicated that this year the firm’s packingline frames have been modified to reduce the distance between the roller and the conveyor belt. This allows ever-gentler handling, which is especially beneficial to soft products like vine-ripe tomatoes, peaches and soft apples.