Although technology continues to usher in new automation to the onion industry with rapid-fire regularity, some aspects of customer service are literally best left in the hands of the shippers, according to Grant Kitamura, general manager of Murakami Produce in Ontario, OR.

Export markets are increasingly important outlets for U.S.-grown potatoes in general and specifically for Idaho, according to Frank Muir, president of the Idaho Potato Commission.

The Asociación Agricola Local de Productores de Uva de Mesa, known commonly by the acronym AALPUM, announced that it will hold its second International Table Grape Symposium Feb. 5-6 in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.

The organization said it hopes to improve on the quality and impact of the first event, which was held in January 2013. The event will cover a variety of topics suggested by producers, researchers and technical advisers, including best practices for producing early crops. In all, 18 presentations are planned for the two-day event.

Albertsons and Safeway Inc. announced the new senior leadership team and division leaders for the combined company that will take effect upon the closing of their merger, which is pending customary regulatory approvals.

Greenhouses on Mexico's Baja peninsula endured enormous damage from the winds of Hurricane Odile, which delivered its strongest punch Sept. 16 on the southern part of the peninsula.

Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, located in Nogales, AZ, indicated Sept. 19 that the hurricane "hit southern Baja pretty hard. Reports are still coming in, but the first reports are of 100 percent loss" of the region's produce greenhouses and their crops.

An NPD Group research project has confirmed that men are more often the primary shopper in their households than they once were, but they accomplish the task a bit differently than women and approach it with different attitudes.

Anecdotal evidence, as simple as one’s own observation, seemingly points to a growing trend of more men doing the grocery shopping.