This past week produce aisles were bursting with new crop goodness, just in time for graduation celebrations across the country. Locally grown watermelons, tomatoes, peaches, corn, cucumbers, squash and cherries were all on sale for get-togethers with family and friends. Ribs, steaks, burgers and cheese were featured in flyers alongside lettuce, tomatoes and onions for grilled meals. Fruit and vegetable party trays offered another way to enjoy fresh produce at celebrations. Patriotic mums and celebratory floral arrangements were showcased for both Memorial Day and for graduation gifts.

Ronald Bown, the face of the Chilean fruit industry for more than three decades, is transitioning to retirement. Following a long and detailed selection process, the board of directors of the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association A.G. appointed Iván Marambio Castaño as the new chairman of the ASOEX board.  

Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, and in addition to honoring the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice, many Americans gather with family and friends and celebrate with food.  A recent social media and web analysis of fruit-based recipes highlights the fact that the most fashionable food is red, white and blue with berries marking the most popular online fruit across the United States for Memorial Day.

With more than five decades of experience and three generations of family ownership, Leger & Son is heading into another watermelon season ready to face the challenges of what lies ahead and reap the well-deserved rewards of its hard work.

Despite a cool start, the Jersey Fresh season looks to be sizzling for Nardelli Bros. “Our Jersey Fresh season is exciting,” said Bill Nardelli, Jr., vice president of sales for the Cedarville, NJ-based company. “We expect a great season with quality products. In the beginning of the season we had a bit of cool weather which slowed us down out of the gate. Recently, we’ve had a warm up, which has been more conducive to these early wet items.”

Rick McCranie has recently joined Moultrie GA-based Producers Marketing and is getting the company poised for big things ahead.

“We’re an old company that has been around for a long time, but it’s recently taken on a new type of role,” he said. “Producers was started in the 80s and had a co-op of farmers, and one of the big farmers was Aldine Hart.”

That farm is now run by Scott Hart, son of Aldine.