Sbrocco International Inc., an importer of fresh produce based in Mt. Laurel, NJ, announced Dec. 10 that it will participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Quality Monitoring Program, effective immediately.

The QMP was developed to help buyers monitor the quality of the fruit and vegetable products they receive, handle, and/or produce. The program will provide Sbrocco with objective, third-party assessments of product quality based on official U.S. grade standards.  

Olympic figure skater Rachael Flatt will continue to promote potatoes grown in her home state of Colorado in an ongoing agreement with the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, said CPAC Assistant Director Linda Weyers.

Flatt, the 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Champion, also went on to place seventh in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. Her skating accomplishments also include 2008, 2009 and 2011 national silver medals, and she was the 2008 World Junior Champion.

“From Chile we have started to see the early fruit by air into Miami,” Ana Ramos, co-owner with her husband Frank, of The Perishable Specialist Inc., headquartered in Miami, said Nov. 15. The company is a leading customs broker that is completely dedicated to fruits and vegetables.

“We have also seen an excellent flow of organic blueberries into the Northeast from Argentina,” she added. “Peruvian asparagus volumes for Thanksgiving are excellent and Guatemala is exporting all year.”

Steve Poindexter, who spent the last three years as director of business trade development and national accounts for Railex LLC and was previously a partner in Crown Jewels Marketing & Distribution LLC in Fresno, CA, has joined Sun Coast Farms Sales LLC as chief executive officer.

Sun Coast Farms, a grower-shipper-processor based in in Santa Maria, CA, is owned by Sonny Smith, who founded the company in 2003.

Mary L. Myers, the former owner of Earl P. Kegel Inc., which is now known as Kegel's Produce Inc., died Dec. 10. She was 88.

Seb Gertmenian, chairman emeritus of Ready Pac Produce and father of Ready Pac founder Dennis Gertmenian, dies Sunday, Dec. 8 at the age of 101.