The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association joined Stater Bros. Charities at the Big Bear Stater Bros. Supermarket Thursday, April 17, to celebrate another successful fundraising campaign benefiting the AHA/ASA mission of building healthier lives free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. This year, Stater Bros. Charities exceeded its goal by raising a record of $543,488 for the fight against heart disease and stroke, the No. 1 and No. 4 killers in the U.S.

Bill Litvin, senior vice president of sales and national account manager Giorgio Fresh Co., headquartered in Temple, PA, said, “Specialty mushrooms have seen strong growth nationally with 42 percent increase in dollar sales over last year. We are seeing strong growth in Shiitake mushroom sales as well as in other specialty mushrooms. We are also seeing strong increases in Oyster, Royal Trumpet, Enoki, Maitake, Pom Pom and other specialty mushrooms.”

Denver, CO — Not even six months old, the Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association received a warm welcome into the state’s ag industry at Colorado’s Ag Day celebration on March 26.

According to the association’s president, Robert T. Sakata, the response at the state capitol was “fantastic, more than I had anticipated.”

Karen Ruth Pool Carlson, a female trailblazer in California's produce industry, died April 7 following a long illness. She was 77.

Naturipe Farms LLC of Salinas, CA, will release new packaging featuring Disney Princess characters and a themed eBook, including recipes and activities for young consumers, this spring.

Over 390 floral professionals attended the 2014 Great Lakes Floral Expo March 7-9 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, MI. The annual expo included seven hands-on classes, seven workshops, 14 business sessions, a book fair, a silent auction, a design contest and a Find the Daisy Contest.