Recent Salmonella and Listeria outbreaks associated with papayas and cantaloupe have further reinforced the point that the produce industry must unite on food-safety programs in order to regain consumer confidence, according to Richard Ruiz, president of Ruiz Sales in Edinburg, TX.

“There needs to be a commitment to better food-safety programs and traceability — including by the retailers,” said Mr. Ruiz, whose company specializes in shipping Persian limes, papayas and other Mexican produce items.

Five years ago, Daniel Edmeier opened Kingdom Fresh Produce in San Antonio, TX, with a staff of one — himself.

Six years later, Mr. Edmeier is director of sales for a company with nine full-time employees and two offices, one in McAllen, TX, and another in Dallas.

As the company has grown, its core business has changed. The entire product line is greenhouse or shadehouse grown, and 80 percent of that product is produced hydroponically.

Four years ago, Brett Combs came to the conclusion that he would need to bring in strategic partners with a track record of growing companies to take Dallas-based Combs Produce, which was founded by J.C. Combs over 50 years ago, to the next level. He found those partners in Jay Pack, formerly of Standard Fruit & Vegetable, and CIC Partners, a Dallas-based private equity firm with a strong track record in produce and foodservice.

(Christine Schuster Morley is president of Rio Fresh)

SAN JUAN, TX — Carl Frederick Schuster came to the United States in 1933. His mother, Bertha, could see problems ahead for Europe with the rise of Adolf Hitler, so she decided to send her oldest son to Texas to live with her two brothers, Max and Fred Krenmueller, who had started a farming operation in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas — and that is where Mr. Schuster was headed at the age of 15.

In 1929, during the heart of the Great Depression, a group of citrus growers around Edinburg, TX, first put forth the idea of forming a collective to market their products. In June of 1932, growers from across the Rio Grande Valley turned that dream into a reality when they met and signed the first contracts that formed the Edinburg Citrus Association — now the only existing fresh citrus cooperative in the state of Texas.

During the upcoming 2011-12 season, the association will be celebrating its 80th year in the Texas citrus industry.