Bland Farms, a sweet onion category leader, plans to turn heads at the Southeast Produce Council’s annual Southern Exposure with the release of its newest fresh produce product offering for 2014, sweet potatoes.

To date, Bland Farms has been strictly a grower, packer and shipper of sweet onions and sweet onion products, but plans to offer a sweet potato program to customers in 2014, viewing Southern Exposure as the perfect setting from which to share the news.

L&M Cos. kicked off its 50th anniversary a little early. Although the company was founded Jan. 10, 1964, by Joe McGee, who serves as chairman, it cut a cake to share with customers and friends at the 2013 PMA Fresh Summit last October.

Going into its third year of aligned sales through Wada Farms Marketing of Idaho, Colorado’s Worley & McCullough Inc. continues to keep pace with food-safety certification as movement of its russet-based volume stays steady.

According to Erin Cooper, grower relations/food-safety officer at the fourth- and fifth-generation family-owned operation near Monte Vista, CO, Worley & McCullough set its sights on reaching GlobalGAP compliance for the warehouse as well as “all growers who run their potatoes through the packing shed.”

RJO Produce Marketing, a leading innovator in field-based inspections and quality management, has been selected by Google to test Google Glass in its Bird Dog field inspection program. RJO  has been using Google Glass since late December 2013, exploring the emerging technology and its possible integration with their Bird Dog App.

The latest apple from Enza has a following any new fruit would Envy. The aptly named apple will surpass the 100,000-carton mark out of Washington this season for the first time ever, as growers endeavor to feed the demand that continues to outpace supply.

The United Fresh Foundation launched Let’s Move Salad Bars to MIDWEST Schools, a new multi-year campaign to increase children’s produce consumption by donating salad bars to schools in six Midwest states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

United Fresh announced the campaign at its Winter Leadership Meeting in Miami, and introduced 12 Midwest produce industry leaders who will co-chair the campaign: