After a 27-year partnership between grower and sales agent, Keber Distributing Inc., based in Thermal, CA, is planning to shut its door as early as the end of May as the two principals head into retirement.

Sales agent Dick Keber, who founded the company in 1986 in partnership with grower Joe Kitagawa, said that Mr. Kitagawa has signed an agreement to lease all 2,200 acres of his farmland to Bakersfield, CA, based Grimmway Farms and its Cal Organics division for the purpose of growing organic carrots and others crops.

Tops Market, a 155-store chain based in Williamsville, NY, with locations throughout upstate New York, northern Pennsylvania and western Vermont, has launched a small-format, fresh-focused concept store called Orchard Fresh, which is located in the upscale Buffalo, NY, suburb of Orchard Park.

The store opened April 14, and so far it has exceeded expectations, according to Steve Wright, director of produce and floral.

DMA Solutions, an Irving, TX-based marketing agency for the fresh produce industry, announced the promotion of MEGAN ZWEIG to strategic marketing director.

Apricots, being vulnerable to frost and hail, have taken a hit from inclement weather in some growing areas over the last year or so.

But the 2013 California fresh apricot crop, as of mid-April, was shaping up to be a full crop with good quality and ample promotional opportunities, according to growers in California’s San Joaquin Valley, where the majority of the nation’s fresh apricots are produced.

The Chuck Olsen Co. Inc. in Visalia, CA, is in the fresh grape business pretty much year round, with product from Chile, Mexico and California — the company’s main deal comes out of California.

In Mexico, “we are not monsters down there,” said Jeff Olsen, president. “We have about 100,000 boxes total,” consisting of about 70 percent red seedless grapes and about 30 percent green seedless, with “a few blacks mixed in there.” The red grapes are all Flames, and the greens are Sugraones. The program is the same as last year.

Grower Direct Marketing LLC in Stockton, CA, exclusive sales agent for O-G Packing Co., has “hired a marketing person that will enhance our sales staff,” according to Don Walters, a partner in Grower Direct.