Kurt Cappelluti, sales manager at Stellar Distributing Inc. in Madera, CA, said marketplace dynamics will be changing by the end of October as kiwifruit imports from Italy continue to arrive in the United States.

"The glut is two weeks away," he told The Produce News Oct. 13.

Stemilt Growers is tapping into the growing crowd of people who juice and blend their fruits and vegetables with the launch of Fresh Blenders, a product line of five-pouch bags for both sweet and tart apple varieties.

Growers and marketers of Kalettes, a new brussels sprouts-kale hybrid, will be present at PMA Fresh Summit 2014 to talk to customers and interested parties about the new vegetable.

This summer, Tozer Seeds announced that it had entered into exclusive marketing agreements to grow and market Kalettes with six companies: 4Earth Farms, Classic Salads, Mann Packing, Ocean Mist Farms, Southern Specialties and WP Rawl. As part of the agreement, Kalettes seeds will be sold by Johnny's Selected Seeds to small farmers and home growers.

VIDALIA, GA — It has been rumored and discussed on the streets here for months that the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation or Cascade Investment LLC, the Gates' private trust located in Kirkland, WA, is actively seeking to purchase producing farms in the Vidalia area, renowned for its sweet onions and the center of that industry.

Two years after a record-breaking convention in Anaheim, CA, PMA Fresh Summit returned to the city with a new record number of exhibitors and produce industry members from more than 60 countries around the world.

Oct. 17

Oct. 18

Daniel Thomas Symms, director of sales and vice president of Symms Fruit Ranch Inc. in Caldwell, ID, died Oct. 7 following a valiant battle with cancer. He was 52.