Kingston & Associates Marketing LLC said that its Costa Rican MD2 golden pineapple program is building in volume, and supplies are on track to meet Easter demand and spring promotions.

“Overall, the crop looks great and setting up nicely for good volume and quality for the spring,” said Ken Nabal, president of the Idaho Falls, ID-based company, who recently toured the farms in Costa Rica. Kingston markets the variety under the “Kingston Sugar Pine” brand.

“DNE World Fruit Sales will promote Florida red and white grapefruit, and Valencia oranges at the 2013 Southern Exposure expo,” said Kathy Hearl, marketing promotions manager for the Ft. Pierce, FL-based company. “We will have some of these of varieties on hand at the expo.”

During the expo, DNE World Fruit will also be highlighting some of its upcoming varieties from South Africa, Chile, Australia, Peru and Mexico.

“The summer citrus season will kick off in mid-May and run through October,” Ms. Hearl added.

Bob Besix, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Country Fresh Mushroom Co., headquartered in in Avondale, PA, told The Produce News that the company has been a member of the Southeast Produce Council since its inception.

“This year the Southeast Produce Council will have a New Product Showcase,” Charlie Eagle, vice president of business development for Southern Specialties, headquartered in Pompano Beach, FL, told The Produce News.

After more than 50 years of growth and prosperity General Produce Inc. of Atlanta, GA, is not sitting still. The company began as a purveyor of bananas and has since grown to become one of the Southeast’s larger distributors of produce from apples to zucchini with its own fleet of more than 100 trucks providing overnight delivery to 11 Southeastern states.

“You can’t stop trying to improve — while you’re sleeping at night somebody else is plotting and scheming how to get ahead of you so you’ve got to stay up with it,” said Executive Vice President Randy Lineberger.

For the first time in seven years, John Shuman of Shuman Produce, Inc. in Reidsville, GA, one of the nation’s larger providers of sweet onions via its “RealSweet” brand, will actually get a chance to enjoy the Southeast Produce Council Southern Exposure trade show, scheduled for Feb. 28-March2 at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, FL.