Some 60 different "unique and proprietary" varieties of potatoes shared the limelight at an Aug. 13 open house at .Sunrain Varieties LLC in Idaho Falls, ID.

The company, which was formed about six years ago as a partnership of Potandon Produce LLC in Idaho Falls and Toronto-based Earth Fresh, specializes in development of potato varieties of all sorts and the production of potato seed.

The summer transportation season was active with good, strong rates at numbers allowing truckers to make a decent living. At least that was the view of a couple of New York truck brokers surveyed on the subject in mid-August.

“May, June and July were super busy,” said Lance Dichter of LD Logistics, based in the Bronx, NY. “August has fallen off a bit but we had a good strong summer.”

Paul Kazan, president of Target Interstate Systems Inc., also headquartered on the Hunts Point Terminal Market in the Bronx, agreed.

Michael Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, Food and Drug Administration, will present the keynote address Wednesday, Sept. 10 at the Breakfast General Session of The Washington Conference.

Deputy Commissioner Taylor will provide an update on the FDA’s rulemaking for the Food Safety Modernization Act. FDA has proposed several rules under FSMA that could have significant impact on the fresh produce industry and the safety of our nation’s fresh produce.

Michael Gould was chairman and chief executive officer of Bloomingdale’s for 23 years, retiring this past February. In a recent interview with National Public Radio, Gould shared that even during the great recession, Bloomingdale’s didn’t cut its training budget.

TransFresh Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Chiquita Brands, has adapted its flagship technology, Tectrol Modified Atmosphere Packaging System, which is widely used to provide protection to strawberries in transit, to meet specific needs of the rapidly growing blueberry market.

Among the various forms in which The Garlic Co. in Bakersfield, CA, offers garlic to the retail trade is a recipe-ready vacuum pack of peeled garlic consisting of individual one-ounce vacuum-sealed packages in a six-ounce pouch. That product is currently going to “a few of our retail customers, but more of the peeled garlic is going in that direction,” said Michael Layous, who is in sales and marketing with the company.

The product is available in both conventional and organic forms.