The outlook for the 2014 California apricot season varies from grower to grower, from location to location and from variety to variety. In general, however, it appears that the crop will start earlier than usual, the set is variable but averaging lighter than normal, and quality looks very good.

If they were available, large limes (175 size and greater) could return a shipper $110 or more for a 40-pound box.

"That's what you could get if you had any," said Ronald Cohen, vice president of sales at Vision Import Group LLC. in River Edge, NJ. "The trouble is, there aren't any."

The lime market has been red hot for more than a month because of bad weather in Mexico's lime-producing regions in December. Very cold temperatures and wet weather reduced the bloom and even damaged some trees.

Reichel Foods, a fresh‐cut produce snack producer, is introducing four new single-serve products to its line of Dippin’ Stix: Apples & Caramel with Greek Yogurt chips; Apples & Caramel with Peanuts & Chocolate; Sweet Gala Apples & Caramel with Peanuts; and Celery Stix & Ranch Dip. The new Dippin' Stix will be available to retailers and distributors nationwide in late April.

On April 8, the Agricultural Marketing Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported on daily shipments and crossings in the United States for watermelons for the first week of April. The report broke down movement for seeded and seedless watermelon and also provided some data on imports. Units are comprised of a total of 40,000 pounds each.

Save-A-Lot, one of the nation’s leading hard-discount, limited assortment grocery chains and a wholly owned subsidiary of SuperValu, announced plans that will allow it to more efficiently bring fresh quality food options to local neighborhoods with the development of a new 140,000-square-foot food distribution center in Aurora, CO, in June 2014.

For year-round avocado distributor Phil Henry, there’s little distinction between the oncoming domestic harvest and the winding down of the offshore supply. His commitment to consistently provide customers with superior quality fresh avocados and great service is never seasonal. It’s the perennial purpose of Henry Avocado, according to a company press release.