Lone Star Citrus Growers in Mission, TX, is well-prepared for growing in the Lone Star State. Record drought is a threat to many producers, but Lone Star has its water rights secured at least through next season. And the discovery of a backyard citrus tree infected with citrus greening disease — the second outbreak in the Rio Grande Valley in two years — is cause for concern but not for alarm with the Valley’s growers coordinating spraying for the psyllid that spreads the disease.

Windset Farms, grower of greenhouse produce items, headquartered in Delta, BC, has completed the 64 acre expansion of its greenhouses located in Santa Maria, CA, bringing the total acreage to 128 that is now in full production.

Awe Sum Organics, a leading importer of organic apples and organic kiwifruit, will supply organic red and green seedless grapes to the United States and Canada beginning in late December.

Baloian Farms has recently introduced a merchandising bin for hard squash.

The goal of this new bin design is to provide a single merchandising source that will display various varieties of hard squash in one easy-to-access location on the retail floor, as well as make retail ordering and store merchandising easier.

Crispy, wedge-cut fries served in America's finest steakhouses are now making their way to kitchen tables as younger, health-conscious shoppers are seeking a fresher alternative to saturated fat-ridden frozen french fries.

MountainKing, based in Houston, has introduced its new Steakhouse Roasters, a slender, thin skin, tubular-shaped fresh potato variety that doesn't require peeling and cooks up fast to create steakhouse-quality, oven-baked wedge fries.

A Nov. 20 fire at the Hunts Point market in the Bronx, NY, began at Mendez International Tropical Foods Inc., which occupies units 158 through 162 in Row A of the market.

The fire broke out shortly after 11 a.m. and quickly escalated into a four-alarm blaze.

The first alarm reached firefighters at 11:15. They had to force their way into the building due to a steel beam that blocked their path to the source of the blaze, ultimately causing them to retreat to their fire ladders to fight the flames.