Paul Dempsey, national food service manager and senior sales representative for The Oppenheimer Group, died Aug. 20 following a two-and-a-half year battle with cancer. He was 44.

Mr. Dempsey joined Oppenheimer's Los Angeles office in December 2001 as a sales representative specializing in foodservice. He moved to the company’s Chicago sales location in 2007. Prior to joining Vancouver, BC- based Oppenheimer, he spent 12 years with Dole Fresh Fruit Co. in Laguna Hills, CA.

When the Philadelphia Regional Produce Market moves to a new state-of- the-art facility in January, it will have a new name and logo to go along with the new location.

After 50-plus years of servicing customers from the south Philadelphia facility under the current name, the new entity will be known as the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market. The name was developed strategically to position the new facility as a wholesale produce market capable of servicing customers within a 500-mile radius of the new location.

Capitalizing on double-digit sales growth in its dried fruit line over the past six years, Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. has recently released and begun shipping a line of whole dried fruit.

The new line will have three items: cranberries, cherries and blueberries. The cranberries and cherries will come in five-ounce packages, while the blueberries will be available in four-ounce packages. All packaging will be clear to highlight the product and promote the image of freshness.

Fresh & Easy is opening nine new stores in September in its current markets and has announced plans to extend its reach into Northern California with the opening of seven stores in the San Francisco Bay area in early in 2011.

Company spokesman Brendan Wonnacott said that on average, Fresh & Easy continues to open stores at the pace of one a week, but it tends to bunch the openings together.

The Lipman Family Companies, owner of tomato and vegetable grower- shipper Six L's Packing Co. and repacker Custom Pak, announced that Kent Shoemaker will join the company Sept. 20 as chief executive officer.

Larry Lipman, chairman of the Lipman Family Companies, said in an Aug. 26 press release, "Kent’s track record of innovative leadership in the fresh produce industry complements our strategy and vision for growth. We are excited to have him join our family of companies".

An partnership between the Produce Marketing Association, Sysco Corp. and PrimusLabs.com is providing much-needed produce food safety training to small growers across America to help them increase their produce sales. Local growers, including PMA members and those interested in doing business with Sysco, can receive training via a series of workshops held around the country. The workshops are designed to help growers understand current food safety demands, how to meet them and how to navigate food safety requirements.