The National Mango Board recently announced the release of its new education materials for culinary students, culinary instructors and professional chefs.

The NMB works closely with foodservice professionals, chefs and operators to encourage the use of fresh mango in dishes at restaurant chains across the United States. "The Fresh Mango-The Basics for Foodservice" video and Fresh Mango Curriculum cover the product essentials from how mangos grow to how to maximize menu versatility — everything operators need to create fresh, delicious and healthful menu items with fresh mango.

Barbara and Bob Sanderson began Jonathan’s Sprouts Inc. in Rochester, MA, in March 1976. Since then the company has built its reputation through continued personal contact with its customers, standing steadfastly behind its quality products and offering support and education.

Liz Reilley, director of marketing and sales, said the company grows only organically, and added, “Bob and Barbara are credited in New England with helping to create organic departments within produce departments over the years.

The movement of Wisconsin’s storage potato crop “is really good. The quality is excellent,” said Tamas Houlihan, director of communications for the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association, based in Antigo, WI.

The yields of the crop harvested in 2013 were a little lower than the 2012 crop. But sales in the last two weeks of December 2013 were 18 percent over the same period in 2012. “Prices a quite a bit higher. In some cases they’re double last year,” he said.

Dominic Russo, buyer and sales associate for Rocky Produce Inc., located on the Detroit Produce Terminal, told The Produce News that the Polar Vortex in early January added to what was already a strange couple of weeks.

“We had a holiday in the middle of the week, worked for two days and then had a weekend,” said Russo. “The next week was the same routine, and then just as things were getting back to normal the storm hit, so things were off track for a few weeks.”

A booming manufacturing city with a population of over 1.8 million in the 1950s, Detroit, MI, has faced several decades of economic and population decline.

Between 2000 and 2010 the city’s population fell by 25 percent, changing its ranking from the nation’s 10th largest city to the 18th.

In 2010, Detroit’s population was 713,777 — reflecting over a 60 percent drop from its peak population six decades earlier.

This decline was accompanied by an equal decline in its economic strength.

The Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market announced that Kings Food Markets, based in Parsippany, NJ, has won $6,500 in Market Bucks after it was randomly selected from entrants who visited the PWPM booth at the New York Produce Show in December.

The $6,500 grand prize was sponsored by 13 participating merchants to support purchases at the market. The Kings Food Market produce staff will also receive a guided tour of the PWPM.