ELTOPIA, WA -- With fresh asparagus acreage in Mexico down by double-digit percentage points, and cool rainy weather flummoxing some California growers early this season, Washington state's estimated 33 percent increase in volume could be met by solid demand and good prices.

FRESNO, CA -- Crown Jewels Marketing & Distribution, here, has recently expanded its staff with the addition of Robbie Mathias and Leslie Telles, both of whom come from families that are heavily involved in the U.S. produce business.

Mr. Mathias is the son of Rob Mathias, president of Crown Jewels. Another uncle, Ryan Mathias, also works for Crown Jewels. Another uncle, Rodney Mathias, works for a tomato company, and his grandfather, Rich Mathias, is a buyer for Sobey's.

Salvatore (Sam) De Franco, who was a partner with his brothers for many years in the produce company his father founded, died of heart failure April 2 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 81.

Mr. De Franco was born May 24, 1924 in San Francisco. In 1929, his family moved to Boston, where his father, Dominic De Franco, founded the New England Tomato Co. A few years later, the family returned to California and settled in Lodi, where they began shipping table grapes to the Eastern Seaboard.

A record volume of Enza's Jazz apples has topped the Vancouver, BC-based Oppenheimer Group's list of highlights for the New Zealand pipfruit season, which is now underway.

Despite anticipating nearly double the 2005 Jazz volume, Oppenheimer Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer John Anderson believes that supply will still not satisfy demand.

Market Fresh Produce LLC in Lee's Summit, MO, has announced a new partnership structure between Anthony Totta and Steve Phipps and Jim Cipriano. Mr. Totta previously held full ownership of the company, but now the three partners hold equal shares of the firm. The new management team brings years of industry experience with it, which will be instrumental in MFP reaching the goals it has set for its future.

WASHINGTON -- A long-awaited proposal that is expected to add fruits and vegetables to the federal voucher program for low-income women and children was expected in January, then the produce industry was told in the spring, and now it may not surface until summer. Every month the proposal is delayed, advocates for an updated WIC package get nervous.