After 16 years with another company, Fritz Koontz figured he might have picked up enough know-how to make a go with his own operation. In January, the Santa Cruz Berry Farming Co. opened its doors in Watsonville, CA, and now heads into its first fall season growing commercial and organic berries, including some of its own proprietary cultivars.

After a spring of very high prices, increased summer production has brought the price of red, yellow and green bell peppers back to a normal range with most sales in the $11 to $14 range per carton in early August.

“It is a very competitive market,” said Mike Aiton, marketing manager of Prime Time Sales LLC in Coachella,

The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl was unveiled Aug. 3 as the new name for the Humanitarian Bowl, which features top selections from the Western Athletic Conference and the Mid-American Conference. The nation’s longest-running outdoor cold-weather bowl, which has been played since 1997, will take place Saturday, Dec. 17 at Bronco Stadium in Boise, ID, and will be televised on ESPN.

MONTEREY, CA -- John Killeen has rejoined NewStar Fresh Foods, based in Salinas, CA, to lead the firm's

Unlike the scorching heat the rest of the country experienced earlier this summer, temperatures on the West Coast remained cool until well after the Fourth of July, delaying the start of the fall strawberry season by as much as one month.

MONTEREY, CA -- Being three years into a recession has not dampened the momentum of the Produce Marketing Association's Foodservice Conference & Exposition, which celebrated its 30th anniversary at this year's show held July 29-31, here.

Just before the close of the exposition, PMA President Bryan Silbermann announced that attendance at the event was nearly 1,700 people -- a virtual tie with last year's record attendance. He said that it was also about 100 people more than what he was expecting.