Swing for the fences in 2014. Our industry has come a long way from the debacle years of 2008-09. We have steadily dug ourselves out of the recession and now have a full head of steam. It is now time to be optimistic and aggressive in our sales and marketing. Let there be no holds barred.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Richard Lutes and I am the new floral editor and floral sales manager for The Produce News. I come to this position after a diverse career in several segments of the floral industry. I have worked in sales, operations, marketing, procurement and management for a number of wholesalers, growers and retailers.

“We know that we’re in really good shape this year,” Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association, based in Victor’s hamlet of Fishers, NY, told The Produce News in early December. “The problem is coming up with a credible crop number. Currently U.S. apple storage figures show that New York has about 12 million bushels in storage for both processing and fresh. We feel that this number is grossly underestimated.

Central American Produce has received its first shipment of Mayan Pride butternut squash from its farms in Guatemala. Shipments of spaghetti squash will start arriving to the United States by Jan. 7.

"Gourmet Trading Co. handles conventional and organic blueberries out of Chile," said Luciano Fiszman, procurement manager for the Los Angeles-based leading supplier of year-round high-quality fruits and vegetables. "We will also have some Chilean asparagus this season."

"Our streamlined process refers to our state-of-the-art, Web-based systems that allow customers to track the status of their cargo 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Nelly Yunta, vice president of sales, marketing and customer care, liner and logistics business groups for Crowley Maritime Corp. in Jacksonville, FL, and vice president of Customized Brokers, the customs brokerage and consulting division located in Miami. "Fresh produce is time-sensitive; it has a short shelf life. Having a streamlined processing facilities the release and distribution of our customers' cargo."