State Garden Inc., a Northeast supplier of organic and conventional tender leaf greens, spinach and celery hearts, is expanding its "Simple Beginnings" conventional produce line with the addition of 10-ounce celery heart bags and 20-ounce celery heart trays.

Spice World Inc., headquartered in Orlando, FL, is gearing up with anticipation over the upcoming New England Produce Council Produce & Floral Expo 2014 on Sept. 11.

The company will be exhibiting at Booth No. 345, and on hand to meet and greet existing and potentially new customers will be Chris Whitson, vice president of sales, as well as Arden Caneza Laughter and Drew Caneza, both sales representatives.

Louis Hymel, director of purchasing and marketing for Spice World, said the company would be featuring its complete line of value-added garlic products.

“We will be attending this year’s New England Produce Council Produce & Floral Expo 2014 at the Hyatt Regency Newport Hotel & Spa on Sept. 11,” said Jimmy Coppola, account manager and marketing representative for Westmoreland Sales in Leamington, ON. “We invite visitors to stop by and say hello to us at our exhibition booth, number 209, where Tony Cappelli and Lisa Sirizzotti will be greeting visitors.”

Jack Brown Produce Inc., located in Sparta, MI, “is taking a look at the next five-year window,” said John Schaefer, Jr., president of the firm. “We will have a lot of new acreage and a lot of upgraded acreage. The growers looked at their older blocks and decided to switch to newer, better strains. And they looked at what their customers wanted to buy.”

That demand was for more flavorful varieties, such as Gala and Honeycrisp. These are “now in the ground” in much greater numbers, Schaefer said.

Speaking for the apple crop in southwest Michigan, Barry Winkel, partner and the general manager of Greg Orchards & Produce Inc., located in Benton Harbor, MI, said the crop is down from last year.

“I would suspect the 2013 crop was the largest-ever” in that corner of Michigan, Winkel said. Having back-to-back gigantic crops would be unheard-of, he added.

The National Mango Board conducts ongoing consumer research to explore consumer awareness, knowledge about mangos, buying habits, barriers to purchase and many other factors of consumer attitudes relative to mangos. Understanding consumer purchasing behavior is key to increasing mango consumption in the U.S.