Exceptional produce managers representing 21 different supermarket chains, commissaries and independent retail stores in 16 states and Canada will be the honored guests at United Fresh 2013 this May through the United Fresh Retail Produce Manager Awards Program.

GILLETTE, NJ — Even before its signature pasta-ribbon-cutting ceremony, the March 22 grand opening of the newest Kings store was a huge success. Hundreds of eager customers passed through the entrance to find themselves inside the MarketSquare.

"We created an amphitheater of produce," said Paul Kneeland, vice president of produce and floral for the Parsippany, NJ-based chain.

“We invite everyone to visit us at the 2013 Northeast Produce Council Produce and Floral Expo in Boston,” said Chris Veillon, marketing director for Kingsville, ON-based Mastronardi Produce. “Our booth number is 19, and we want everyone to stop by to see how ‘Mastronardi/Sunset’ is ‘Inspired By Flavor.’”

CBS Farms LLC in Watsonville, CA, which handles strawberry sales for Watsonville-based Colleen Strawberries Inc. and Beach Street Farms LLC (hence the name CBS), has strawberry production in both Oxnard, CA, and Watsonville. In Watsonville, the company has both conventional and organic strawberries.

For the 2013 season, “we have a slight increase in conventional acreage” in Watsonville and a 30 percent increase in organic, said Charlie Staka, director of sales.

It’s all company production in both districts, grown by the farming companies that own the marketing company.

"Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto chose the Rene Produce ranch in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, as the location to sign a nutrition initiative for the national Crusade Against Hunger," according to a Rene Produce press release dated March 25.

The crusade is "a comprehensive, multi-faceted effort to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in Mexico," the release said. "Rene Produce, a grower and distributor of fruits and vegetables in Culiacan for 50 years, was chosen to symbolize the initiative's focus on increasing consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables."

COLUMBIA, MD -- Produce market managers looked for answers as to whether they will be on the hook for the new Food Safety Modernization Act but left with few answers from the March 23 meeting of the National Association of Produce Market Managers.