“A recently published study conducted by the University of California at Davis and the University of Florida found that transporting strawberries in the sealed TransFresh Tectrol pallet cover system, in which CO2 concentrations were elevated at 11-16 percent, was most effective in complementing current low-temperature-management practices to reduce decay and maintain fruit quality,” stated a press release from TransFresh Corp. in Salinas, CA, dated March 25, an advance copy of which was furnished to The Produce News.

Strawberry consumption in the United States has been growing at 9-11 percent a year, and Eclipse Berry Farms LLC in Los Angeles has been outpacing that growth by a significant margin.

“Our company has been growing consistently ever year” at a rate of about 18 percent a year, said Stuart Gilfenbain, who handles sales for Eclipse.

The company is in the strawberry business year round, with production out of Oxnard and Salinas, CA, and Zamora, Mexico.

For the past decade, California Giant has sponsored its own competitive cycling team called California Giant Cycling. This year, “we have partnered with a couple of our cycling sponsors” on the consumer sweepstakes, Ms. Jewell told The Produce News March 5. Specialized Bicycle Components and Clif Bar & Co. have both donated some of their products to include in the “consumer prize packs that we will be giving away every week” as part of a new promotion.

As the Mexican mango season was getting underway, San Diego, CA-based Coast Tropical opened a new shed in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, which is one of the earlier producing regions. At the same time, it was building a new mango packingshed in Los Mochis, one of the later-producing areas.

“With these new sheds, we have complete control of our fruit from the beginning to the end of the season,” Isabel Freeland, vice president and chief financial officer of Coast Tropical, told The Produce News.

“The charge is on to put more fruits and vegetables on plates,” said Mary Ostlund, director of marketing for Brooks Tropicals, a leading grower-shipper of tropical fruits and vegetables headquartered Homestead, FL. “It’s not just larger portions of side-dish standbys: we’re branching out. Enter ‘tropicals,’ which are enticing their way to the family’s dinner table with great exotic tastes.”

She added that it is not only taste that is driving tropical fruits and vegetables into shopping carts, but the discovery of big pluses on the nutritional side.

Wendy Brannen, who has served as executive director of the Vidalia Onion Committee since July 2005, has resigned to take a position with U.S. Apple Association in Washington, DC.