A new group formed to enhance consumer and retail confidence in the Eastern cantaloupe supply chain will kick off with a round of meetings Feb. 11 in Atlanta for foodservice and retail buyers.

The newly established Eastern Cantaloupe Growers Association met in early January with cantaloupe growers and potential members hailing from Indiana down to southern Florida. Having solidified mandatory food-safety guidelines for the association, the group is now ready to unveil these standards to its produce purchasers.  

The Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers will celebrate its silver anniversary with four regional meetings in Texas, North Carolina, Ohio and at a location yet to be named.

The regional meetings will be shorter this year, according to an association news release, and each will have a different feducational focus.

“On the Farm” will be the topic for the March 4-5 farm tours and demonstrations at the Hill County Farm in Wimberly, TX. Frank and Amanda Arnosky will lead a program on Texas specialty cut flowers.

According to a recent survey, 85 percent of consumers have no idea where their flowers come from, but a majority of them would choose domestically grown flowers over imports. Yet, with about 80 percent of the U.S. floral market supplied by imports today, that choice is limited, if not altogether unavailable to consumers.

Hiawatha Evergreens started out modestly enough 75 years ago as Northwest Evergreen, a local supplier of a limited range of fresh evergreen brush such as salal and huckleberry. Three-quarters of a century later, the firm is called Hiawatha Evergreens, its product line has expanded, it has added locations in British Columbia, Oregon and Washington, and it is a leading supplier of evergreen products worldwide.

Market Street, one of four chains operated by United Supermarkets in Texas, will roll out a new, smaller prototype store in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in November of this year with floral offerings up front, company spokesman Kerri Fulks told The Produce News in mid-January. United currently operates 51 stores under the Market Street name and three other banners: United Supermarkets, Amigos United and United Express.

Farmers’ West Flowers & Bouquets in Carpinteria, CA, is teaming up for another year with community groups to feed the homeless and teach them cooking skills so they can get jobs at local restaurants and cafes.