The announcement by C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. last month that it had acquired Florida-based Rosemont Farms and its sister company, Quality Logistics, might not be the last such announcement.

Jim Lemke, senior vice president of produce for Minneapolis-based C.H. Robinson, told The Produce News in a recent interview that Rosemont Farms fits very well within the company philosophy and that C.H. Robinson is always open to similar acquisitions. "If the opportunity is there and we feel we can enhance the services we offer, we are always open to new acquisitions."

WASHINGTON -- The latest changes to the H-2A program will be too costly for employers to work through, and the Obama administration should refrain from making changes until Congress acts on AgJobs legislation, according to the National Council on Agricultural Employers.

Temecula, CA-based West Pak Avocado, a leading grower, packer and shipper of premium avocados from California, Mexico and Chile, has hired Dan Acevedo as its director of business development.

Mr. Acevedo will be responsible for increasing sales with key customers and developing new customers for the company. He will be working with all members of West Pak's sales and marketing team.

WASHINGTON -- With the clock ticking on food-safety legislation, a Senate committee held its first hearing Oct. 22 where Tom Stenzel, United Fresh Produce Association's president and chief executive officer, urged Congress not to ease food-safety mandates for small farmers, but rather to offer assistance to help them comply with the new program.

After operating as a private company for the past six years, Dole Food Co. in Westlake Village, CA, went public once again Friday, Oct. 23, with an initial public offering of 35.7 million shares at $12.50 per share.

The offering was designed to raise almost $450 million in capital for the well-known food company.

Babe' Farms in Santa Maria, CA, has added Baby Lettuce Bouquet to its packaged baby head lettuce product lineup. This latest release is a collection of gourmet baby head lettuces combined with heads of elegant blonde baby frisee, packaged in convenient clamshell containers.

"The baby lettuces and platinum frisee are an attractive and savory combination," Ande Manos of Babe' Farms sales and marketing department said in a Sept. 30 press release. "Consumers are able to create a garden- fresh salad with specialty baby lettuces and accent it with tendrils of blonde frisee."