Produce suppliers from across the United States and around the world donated an estimated 231,165 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County on Oct. 28. The donation was made by companies exhibiting at the Produce Marketing Association's 2012 Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition, held at the Anaheim Convention Center Oct. 26-28.

ANAHEIM, CA -- Following the lead of several countries and other U.S. growing districts, the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California created a pavilion-type concept for its members at the Produce Marketing Association convention, held Oct. 26-28, here, and invited competitors to display their products together.

"It worked out better than we could have ever imagined," Jim Bogart, president of the association, told The Produce News. "We had great participation from our members and they reported increased visitation to their booths."

Acknowledging that significant progress has been made to reach the Produce Traceability Initiative goals over the last four years, the PTI Leadership Council has agreed that a buyer-centered implementation focus is needed to ensure continued industry movement toward case-level traceability.

The council, representing 32 companies in the produce industry, met recently in conjunction with the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit in Anaheim, CA, and decided to:

“We are continuing to come up with new innovative packaging,” Paul Huckabay, citrus manager for Western citrus at Duda Farm Fresh Foods Inc. in Visalia, CA, said in an interview with The Produce News Oct. 19.

Johnston Farms in Edison, CA, near Bakersfield, is a fourth-generation family farming operation. According to Dennis Johnston, a partner in the company, his grandfather, John C. Johnston, started farming potatoes in the Edison area of Kern County in 1947, and the family planted its first Navels in 1963, making 2013 the 50th anniversary of the company’s involvement in citrus.

With the 2012 harvest nearing completion, pistachio growers in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada are expecting a record crop of around 550 million pounds, but that number is down from a pre-harvest estimate of around 600,000 pounds, according to Richard Matoian, executive director of the 450-member association.