Steve Junqueiro, president and chief operating officer of Save Mart Supermarkets, was recently elected 2013-14 chairman and president of the Western Association of Food Chains at the organization’s 92nd annual convention, held at the JW Marriott Desert Springs in Palm Desert, CA.

Mr. Junqueiro was previously the vice president of WAFC and has been involved with various other industry organizations throughout his career, including the Produce Marketing Association, the Produce for Better Health Foundation and the Food Marketing Institute.

Loop Fresh Produce in McAllen, TX, and the Allen Lund Co., headquartered in La Cañada, CA, are several months into a new alliance to meet the needs of mutual customers shipping product from south Texas, and by all accounts the program has been a rousing success.

TORONTO — The 2013 CPMA Convention and Trade Show in Toronto marked the end of Jim DiMenna’s term as chairman of the association

This season, New Zealand's pipfruit producers will infuse global markets with increased tonnage for apples and pears.

"We anticipate our export volume to be just under 17 million cartons or just over 305,000 tons," Alan Pollard, chief executive officer of Pipfruit New Zealand Inc., told The Produce News. "This would represent an increase of 6 percent over 2012. Production acreage is approximately 1 percent more than in 2012."

WASHINGTON — The 2013 farm bill will take center stage May 14-15 when the Senate and House agriculture committees mark up different versions of the stalled five-year bill.

With the 2008 farm bill expiring Sept. 30, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has pledged to give farmers certainty and pass the bill before the next deadline.

Most but not all programs, including specialty crop research funding, are being implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through a nine-month extension.

New Zealand's Zespri announced its that its green, gold and organic kiwifruit varieties would be arriving in North America in mid-May, two weeks earlier than expected.