The Produce Marketing Association recognized four exhibitors Oct. 17 at its Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition with "Best of Show" awards for their exhibits' outstanding salesmanship and presentation excellence.

The awards were announced on the show floor Oct. 17 with presentations made on the last day of Fresh Summit, held Oct. 15-18 in Orlando, FL.

Brooks Tropicals in Homestead, FL, and Del Monte Foods in San Francisco were first- and second-place winners, respectively, in the Island Booth category.

After 46 years in the fresh produce industry, L&M Cos. has launched an entirely new brand.

The Raleigh, NC-based company made the announcement to the industry during the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition held Oct. 15-18 in Orlando, FL.

ORLANDO, FL — In 1909, Andrew Duda left his native Slovakia for America with $100 and a pocket full of celery seeds. Fifteen years later, he and his three sons founded A. Duda & Sons in Oviedo, FL, and grew primarily celery.

A century later, Andrew Duda's descendants have done their forefather one better: They have invented a new kind of celery — a blushing red variety — that is the first in a coming line of proprietary "Celery Sensations" from Duda Farm Fresh Foods Inc.

Sangar Fresh Cut Produce in San Antonio, TX, was shut down Oct. 20 after Texas authorities tied the processor to a listeriosis outbreak that has resulted in five deaths.

Six of 10 cases of listeria poisoning have been traced to chopped celery from the Sangar plant, the Texas Department of State Health Services in an Oct. 20 statement. Some 10 cases have been reported to state authorities over the last eight months, DSHS said.

APTOS, CA -- Unpredictable and inclement weather has led the Chilean Avocado Importers Association to forecast a smaller avocado crop for the 2010-11 season than originally projected. New estimates indicate 100 million to 120 million pounds of Chilean Hass avocados to be shipped to the United States this season.

Due to the alternating fruit bearing of the avocado trees, the new projections are on par with those of the 2008-09 season. Comparatively to that season, the acreage is approximately the same and also experienced the effects of a freeze that year.