Even as more global players in the avocado industry are gaining or seeking access to the ever-growing U.S. market, Calavo Growers Inc., in Santa Paula, CA, continues to focus, in its domestic marketing, on just two sources of origin — California and Mexico.

“The program here for the U.S. is still almost exclusively California and Mexico for Calavo,” said Rob Wedin, vice president of fresh sales and marketing, in an interview with The Produce News.

Canadawide began as a small greengrocery in Montreal, founded John Pitsikoulis and his wife Angeliki within a year of arriving in Canada from their native Greece. More than 30 years after officially founding Canadawide as a fruit and vegetable wholesale operation, sons Michael, George and Nick now oversee a newly constructed state-of-the-art facility in Montreal.

As demand for avocados in the United States continues to rise, Index Fresh in Bloomington, CA, continues to grow its programs in all countries, according to President and CEO Dana Thomas.

The company sources avocados from California as well as Mexico, Chile and Peru.

Canneberges Québec, founded in 1995 by Denis Bédard, the fourth producer of cranberries in Quebec, produces around 6 million pounds of cranberries per year. A specialist in fresh berries, the bulk of their yields are sold to Fruit D’or with whom they have a non-compete agreement.

Wild blueberry producers in Quebec are looking forward to an excellent crop this year, which will help meet some of the growing worldwide demand for Canadian wild blueberries. Last year, the yield was down due to frost damage, but growers this year are projecting a crop of 60 million pounds plus if the weather holds.

Serres Sagami was one of the recipients to receive the 2014 Vendor Development Partnership Award from Loblaw. The company, a grower of greenhouse tomatoes with over nine hectares across Québec, was recognized for its leadership within the produce industry for food safety, quality, corporate social responsibility and sustainable development efforts. The award was presented at Loblaw’s annual assembly of local Québec growers held in Montréal.