Jeff Lazur of Reynolds, ND, has joined Associated Potato Growers Inc. in Grand Forks, ND, as a sales representative, according to a June 2 release by the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association in East Grand Forks, MN.

Lazur had been with Britton Transport, where he was the reefer division operations manager. He is also in a farming partnership with his three brothers near Reynolds.

Drew Billmeyer joined Detroit, MI-based Ben B. Schwartz & Sons as a merchandiser.

Prior to joining Ben B. Schwartz, Billmeyer worked for the past seven years as an options trader at Wolverine Trading in Chicago, trading options on the S&P 500 on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange. This is his first job in the produce industry.

His father, Chris Billmeyer, is the owner of Ben B. Schwartz, and his younger brother Jake also works for the company.

So far it has only received orders from one specific club store chain, but Freska Produce International LLC in Oxnard, CA, believes it has a winner in its six-pound mango carton.

Gary Clevenger, who is managing member and co-founder of the company, said the company developed the carton for one distribution center of Costco “but now we are in every depot.”

He said the six-pound carton features six large mangos and typically retails at a $5.99 to $6.99 price point. The smaller cartons are display-ready and are packed in a master carton.

VINELAND, NJ — The extensive blueberry program that M. D’Ottavio Produce Inc. launched last year is right on track, according to company President Michael D’Ottavio. If all goes as planned, he will harvest his first crop of New Jersey blueberries in the summer of 2016, fulfilling a dream that he has had for more than 10 years.

Kingston Fresh announced that it has expanded its strategic sourcing partnerships with established growers of watermelons and cantaloupes within the Georgia and Mississippi region. The move will allow Kingston to extend its available melon volumes with the added summer production. Further, the strategic alliance has allowed the company to better service its key customers on the Eastern Seaboard.

Homegrown Organic Farms is in the thick of its stone fruit season and will have a fairly consistent supply of fruit from early May through mid-August. Located in Porterville, CA, the company is one of the nation’s largest suppliers of organic produce. “We offer a full line of stone fruit including white and yellow peaches, nectarines, plums and pluots,” said Marketing Manager Cherie France.

She said the stone fruit season got off to an early start “after the dry weather and above-average temperatures we’ve experienced here in the valley the past few months.”