Glennville, GA-based Bland Farms has hired Kristie Waters as its new sales manager. Ms. Waters joins the sweet onion company with more than 14 years of experience in the industry, and she will be based out of the Glennville headquarters.

BOISE, ID — Lori Otter, wife of Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, partnered with the Idaho Potato Commission and the commission’s mascot, Spuddy Buddy, to launch a program called Smashed Spuddy Buddy, an educational and interactive program designed to help teach kids about the nutritional benefits of Idaho potatoes.

Richter & Co., a vertically integrated distributor of fresh produce headquartered in Charlotte, NC, announced the hire of JARROD SNIDER as director of vegetable commodity development on Jan. 21.

“It has been a very busy past year-and-a-half here,” Joe Spano, vice president of sales for Mucci Farms, a leading producer of greenhouse vegetables in Leamington, ON, told The Produce News in late January. “We have constructed and planted an additional 45 acres of new high-tech glass greenhouses, and we got them planted on time, despite all kinds of weather systems and construction issues.”

On Dec. 20, Crowley Maritime Corporation announced that it had made organizational realignments within its shipping and logistics team, effective Jan. 1.

Nelly Yunta, who previously served as vice president of U.S. imports, customs brokerage and consulting for the company’s Miami-based Customized Brokers’ customs brokerage subsidiary, has been promoted to the position of vice president of sales, marketing and customer care for Crowley Maritime.