RIO RICO, AZ — Grower Alliance LLC is going year-round in the Roma tomato business for the first time. Working from a modern warehouse amid seemingly countless other produce distributors in the Rio Rico Industrial Park, the firm in mid-January began receiving Roma tomatoes from Culiacan. This deal, coming through Nogales, AZ, will end about July 4.

Jorge (George) Quintero Jr., the firm’s managing partner, said the Nogales Roma deal will give the firm an extended season. Traditionally Grower Alliance brought Romas through McAllen, TX, with that season ending in February.

Del Monte Fresh Produce was the official fresh produce provider of the 2014 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, a national, star-studded, four-day destination event showcasing the talents of the world’s most renowned wine and spirits producers, chefs and culinary personalities.

FoodLink, a leading provider of supply chain and commerce solutions for the fresh food industry, based in Los Gatos, CA, announced March 4 that Gourmet Trading Co., a leading distributor of fresh asparagus in North America, will implement the company's produce traceability solution on all packed and shipped produce within the United States.

Paramount Citrus will increase the capacity at its Wonderful Halos plant in Delano, CA, by 75 percent to meet increasing demand for the fruit, according to a company press release.

The expansion at the plant, which is already among the largest and most advanced citrus packinghouse in the world, will enable Paramount to process more than 52 million Mandarins a day.

Committed to increasing healthier options for students, Dole Food Co. and Meijer have partnered to donate salad bars to five public schools in Detroit, Cincinnati and South Bend, IN. These self-serve produce bars will feature a wide array of fresh fruits and vegetables to boost new choices for students at breakfast and lunch.

Despite the harsh winter that has occurred in much of the United States, Mastronardi Produce has continued to keep the supply of fresh, flavorful tomatoes going with its Michigan-grown product.

Mastronardi grows fresh tomatoes-on-the-vine and grape tomatoes 365 days a year at its facility in Coldwater, MI. This state-of-the-art, high-tech greenhouse has been operating since 2012 and uses grow lights to produce fresh tomatoes year round, even when there's snow on the ground.