At the August Schnucks Management Development Speaker Series in St. Louis, Karen Caplan, president and chief executive officer of Frieda’s Specialty Produce presented 80 Schnuck employees with insights on women in leadership.

Schnuck store managers, store department managers and teammates in offices and support facilities were in attendance as Caplan offered inspiring leadership lessons to both women who look to grow as leaders and their male colleagues.

Visitors to booth No. 713 at this year’s Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit can expect to walk away with a wealth of information from Curry & Co., headquartered in Brooks, OR.

“It is an exciting time for Curry & Co., and we’re eager to share all of our recent developments with our customers during Fresh Summit,” said President Matt Curry.

Intergrow Greenhouses Inc., based in Albion, NY, is planning to start construction on the fourth phase of expansion this spring, along with the addition of lights in the greenhouse for winter production.

The expansion will increase Intergrow’s total acreage to approximately 80 acres of greenhouse under glass in the Northeast region. The addition of lights in the greenhouse will allow Intergrow to supply its customers with premium, locally grown tomatoes 12 months of the year without the need to source from other regions or countries.

Sterling Hill Farms, the newest potato grower-packer-shipper in Washington’s Skagit Valley, is already in the thick of its first marketing season.

Partners Norm Nelson Jr., Jim Nelson and Tony Wisdom opened their doors for business March 1, and the company currently employs 40 people.

“This is the best and most talented team I’ve ever hoped to assemble,” Wisdom told The Produce News.

The vertically integrated company, headquartered in Burlington, WA, grows, packs, ships and markets premium-quality conventional reds, yellows and whites.

The United States’ sweet potato industry is thriving as growers have capitalized on the nutritional component of their crop and built strong export markets, according to Charles Walker, executive secretary of the U.S. Sweet Potato Council, headquartered in Columbia, SC.

The boom took off in the last decade, Walker said. Boosting the nutritional message was a study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest that rated sweet potatoes as the most-nutritious vegetable.

WASHINGTON — Funding for federal programs that support fresh produce deliveries to schools is skyrocketing and so are profits for produce companies that have tapped the young market, panelists said in an Oct. 1 session at the United Fresh Produce Association's Washington Public Policy Conference, here.

Boosting kids' consumption of fresh produce and tapping the youth market are priorities for United Fresh and they're paying off. Companies such as Del Monte Fresh Produce, Gold Star Foods and Muir Copper Canyon Farms shared success stories from jumping into the new market.