It’s peak berry season on the California Central Coast and production is hitting its stride. Well•Pict's berry quality has been fantastic for strawberries coming out of Watsonville, and the raspberry crop — also starting to produce in Watsonville — will be hitting promotable volumes soon.

Walmart has sold six of its Walmart Neighborhood Markets in Louisiana for a total price of $84 million, with individual prices ranging from $11.8 million to just under $16.5 million

Walmart Neighborhood Markets were designed in 1998 as a smaller-footprint option for communities in need of a pharmacy, affordable groceries and merchandise. Each location employs up to 95 associates.

The stores account for approximately 43,000 square feet each and are located in the southern or coastal Louisiana towns of Meraux, Houma, Prairieville, New Iberia, Opelousas and Thibodaux.

Pace International, a leading provider of sustainable postharvest solutions and technologies for the fresh produce industry, hired Garrett Babst as its Pacific Northwest account manager.

In his new role, Babst will work directly with customers to ensure satisfaction, meet and exceed budgeted sales revenue goals, and pull Pace products through distribution. He will be based in Wenatchee, WA, and serve the greater Yakima, WA, region, and Canada.

The Food & Drug Administration, along with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, as well as Canadian, state and local partners are investigating a multistate outbreak of hepatitis A infections in the United States and Canada potentially linked to fresh organic strawberries branded as FreshKampo and HEB, purchased between March 5 and April 25.

Fru-Veg Marketing is a top importer of fine produce from the best growers of Europe and Latin America. Since its founding in 1988 by Conchita Espinosa, and through the partnership of current co-presidents Steven Espinosa and Albert Grimaldi, the company’s philosophy has revolved around the principal of selecting the finest growers in each region.

Conventional grocery stores in the top-performing quartile generated average weekly online grocery sales of $43,895, 6.3 times higher than the median sales of $6,934 for rest of the stores, according to the Brick Meets Click eGrocery Performance Benchmarking 2021 Wave.