BENTON HARBOR, MI — For Greg Orchards & Produce Inc., located here, the 2013 apple storage deal was coming to an end by late May.

On May 13, Barry Winkel, partner and general manager, said, “We’ve been packing 10 hour days and for the last few Saturdays. But I can’t complain. We had the biggest year we ever had.”

As May was winding down, Kurt Cappelluti of Stellar Distributing could hardly wait to get to the United Fresh Produce Association convention in Chicago a couple of weeks later.

“I’ll be talking Tiger figs and our other four varieties, as well as kiwifruit,” he said in late May. “Both of these items are hot — about as hot as I have seen them in my 28 years in this business.”

In today’s economy, companies are cutting costs and employee training and development programs are some of the first expenses to get cut. That is a big mistake.

Lipman, one of North America’s larger field tomato growers, recently opened a 150,000-square-foot packing and repacking center in Dallas, consolidating the operation from three separate locations. Furthering Lipman’s commitment to geographic diversity, the facility will directly accommodate demand from customers in Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Arkansas.

Crunch Pak and Duda Farm Fresh Foods partnered recently to host a party in Miami for an influential group of food bloggers.

Held May 16 at Epic Hotel’s Marina Café, more than 150 food bloggers attended the party that was decorated in traditional Miami style with a white, gold and lime green (to showcase fresh apples and celery) color scheme.

A line of produce gadgets called Good Cook ProFreshionals, from kitchenware leader Bradshaw International, based in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, has been set up on a year-round calendar system to get the appropriate produce tool into supermarkets at the right time — and in front of the right produce bin.

With the aid of portable hanging merchandisers designed to hook directly onto gaylords and bins, Good Cook ProFreshionals aims to get product where and when it is needed most by consumers, while being sensitive to space limitations in the produce department.