PAETON BANGART joined Chelan, WA-based Chelan Fresh Marketing in December.

In his new role at Chelan Fresh, Mr. Bangart will handle a full line of domestic sales.

Prior to joining the company, he owned a winery and vineyard in Chelan that he ran full time for the past five years.

Mr. Bangart has been working in the produce industry on and off for the past 20 years. His family has been farming in the valley for over 80 years. When he was younger, Mr. Bangart said he would spend the summers working in his grandfather’s orchard.

Currently, “watermelons are light coming out of Mexico, and it will be like that, I think, for the next month-and-a-half,” said Jesus (Chuy) Lopez, president of Big Chuy Distributors & Sons Inc. in Nogales, AZ, in an interview with The Produce News Jan. 25.

Well-Pict Inc. in Watsonville, CA, which grows strawberries in several districts in California as well as in Baja California, Mexico, has developed a family of proprietary varieties that not only have desirable characteristics, but are also particularly suited to the districts in which they are grown and to the desired market timing.

According to Sales Manager Dan Crowley, the company’s 269 variety has long been “our horse in Oxnard, and we continue to have it that way.” But there have been some changes this season in the varieties being grown in Baja and in Santa Maria.

On Jan. 23, Ready Pac hosted “Salad Day” at Osage Elementary School in Voorhees County, NJ. The event helped raise awareness of New Jersey’s innovative strides to combat childhood obesity, starting with healthy school meals. School administrators, students and media were invited, along with Ready Pac’s executive chef and other staff.

A number-one trend on Twitter is just one of the many success stories that Grimmway Farms has to celebrate thanks to its partnership with NBC's “The Biggest Loser.”

California Giant Berry Farms is entering peak berry season with increased acreage and new marketing initiatives.

Cal Giant has increased strawberry acreage by 12 percent, mainly in northern California districts with Albion still the dominant variety in that growing region. Santa Maria has a slight shift in strawberry varieties with the addition of the Monterey. Additionally, this region has variety berries gearing up for production in the spring and summer.