The California cantaloupe industry has adopted a mandatory government-inspected food-safety program.

"We have the only mandatory program in the produce industry that invites government auditors in to inspect the operations," John Gilstrap, manager of the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board in Dinuba, CA, told The Produce News. "That is what the board's main focus is this year."

Marilyn Dolan, vice president of The Marketing Department and a consultant to the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board, elaborated on the program.

Country Sweet Produce is a fairly young marketing company that continues to make strides every year to improve the quality and efficiency of delivering every type of onion to the industry. Country Sweet is a sister company to Valpredo Farms, longtime Bakersfield vegetable growers.

“We will be shipping onions of all colors and all sizes, all summer long in conventional, organic and sweet onions,” Country Sweet Produce President Michael Valpredo said.

By adding acreage to the organic program, Country Sweet will also be shipping organic onions through August.

Saven Corp., headquartered in Savannah, GA, has been producing flat yellow Vidalia-type sweet onions for around 26 years under the “Oso Sweet” brand. It now offers “Oso Sweet” onions year-round, with production in various Northern and Southern Hemisphere growing areas. “This is our second year in California in the Central Valley deal,” said Mark Breimeister, a shareholder in the company and national sales director.

Exp Group LLC is poised to expand its banana import operations in the near future and is increasing its ripening operations to accommodate future business. Vice President Emil Serafino said a total of 17 new ripening rooms will be fully operational in 2013.

“One third of the rooms are done already,” he told The Produce News on May 29. With the approaching summer, he said two-thirds of the rooms will be fully functional. The balance of construction will be completed by the end of the year, when the company will have its final business plan in place.

VISALIA, CA — Sun Pacific, which markets its clementines and mandarins under the popular "Cuties" label, hosted a luncheon meeting June 11 at the Visalia Convention Center, here, that drew more than 200 citrus, nut, raisin and tree fruit growers, as well as investors, who came to hear the latest about the clementine and murcott industry and learn about the possibility of packing for Sun Pacific under the "Cuties" label.

They go by many names, but gusseted stand-up bags, mostly high graphic and many of them with handles, referred to now with increasing frequency as “pouch” bags are unquestionably gaining in popularity as an alternative form of grape packaging with many retailers.