Gourmet Mushrooms Inc. in Sebastopol, CA, grower of the "Mycopia" brand of organic specialty mushrooms, has concluded agreements with two other Pacific Coast growers and now offers an all-organic program to its customers.

Gourmet Mushrooms' five varieties of specialty mushrooms are now complemented by organically grown Shiitake and Maitake. The company's own varieties have been certified-organic since 2003. Bob Engel, director of marketing, believes that customers are becoming familiar with and demanding a wider range of organic varieties.

Sun World International LLC in Bakersfield, CA, has promoted Darren Thornberry to vice president of strategic planning and analysis.

He will have the overall responsibility for the firm's planning practices, including strategic business planning, supply chain analysis, financial performance analysis and capital budgeting.

Mr. Thornberry came to Sun World in 2006 as a senior operations analyst and most recently functioned as the director of strategic planning.

A Fort Pierce, FL, entrepreneur has brought the Coquimba gourmet banana to Florida.

"We feel it is only fitting to bring another world-class flavor leader to Florida," Jose Ubilla, owner of Real Stone & Granite and now co-owner of the Coquimba gourmet banana, said in a press release. "Our fresh Coquimba bananas initially will only be available for Florida residents. However, we are in active discussions with produce distributors in California and other locations throughout the United States as word gets out on this new gourmet product."

Registration is open for the third annual Produce Marketing Association Education Foundation Golf Tournament, which is a fundraiser for the Nucci Scholarship for Culinary Innovation.

"PMA established the Nucci Scholarship in honor of our brother, Joe," Gina Nucci, director of foodservice marketing for Mann Packing Co. Inc., said in a press release. "It's a great way for Joe's friends and colleagues to get together, have fun and raise money for a great cause."

"It is a wait-and-see game now," said Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association in Fishers, NY. "We are now waiting to see how [the apples] grow and how they can best be used."

Mr. Allen was referring to the damage to apple orchards resulting from a hailstorm that swept across New York state June 16. Current damage assessments stand at about 6 million to 7 million bushels that could have been damaged during the storm.

Starting with the 2008 pear and apple crops, sales and marketing for the entire fruit manifest of Wapato, WA-based E.W. Brandt & Sons Inc. will be handled by Chelan Fresh Marketing in Chelan, WA.

The collaboration provides buyers with fruit from Washington's two primary fruit-growing regions: the Yakima Valley in the state's midsection on the eastern side of the Cascade Range and the Wenatchee-Chelan region further to the northeast.