PHILADELPHIA -- If the new Philadelphia market were placed standing on its end, it would be 50 stories taller than New York's Empire State Building.

That tidbit, shared by Sonny DiCrecchio, general manager of the Philadelphia Regional Produce Market, who led an Oct. 20 tour of the market's construction, put a real perspective on the immensity of what in 10 months will become the world's largest, most-modern produce market. Tenants could possibly move into the market as soon as August, which would be two months ahead of schedule.

Strawberry growers up and down California were back in their fields the week of Oct. 19 trying to coax the plants back into production and capitalize on the hot market caused by the freak storm that raked the state the week before.

For the week ending Oct. 10, California produced about 3 million trays of strawberries and would have produced about the same the following week if not for the huge storm that hit the state's coastal regions Oct. 13-15.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) praised rule changes that will permit Florida citrus to be shipped to all 50 states once more. The U.S. Department of Agriculture published the rule change Oct. 22; it takes effect immediately.

"We are right in the middle of our joint promotion called 'The Big Hit,'" Jose Luis Obregon, managing director of the Hass Avocado Board, said in an interview with The Produce News Oct. 13. Timed to coincide with Major League Baseball playoffs, the promotion began in late September and was scheduled to continue through late October, a time when significant volumes of Hass avocados from both Mexico and Chile would be in the U.S. market.

BOSTON -- Lewis Gussman, founder of Mutual Produce Corp., here, died Sept. 30 at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, MA, following a brief illness. He was 100.

Mr. Gussman launched the wholesale company, formerly named Mutual Produce Inc., at the New England Produce Center in 1955. He sold the company in 2000 and continued to work for Mutual Produce Corp. until he was 98.

Most Texas citrus packinghouses were in production by the middle of October, and volume of oranges and grapefruit from the Lone Star State was starting to increase.

"We started oranges yesterday and started grapefruit one day last week," Mike Martin, president of Rio Queen Citrus Inc. in Mission, TX, said Oct. 20. "We are about a week later than last year just like everyone else. I think just about all the sheds are operating now or will be opening up in the next couple of days."