Four leading berry producers -- Michigan-based blueberry grower MBG Marketing; Santiago, Chile-based berry-growing corporation Hortifrut S.A.; Delano, CA-based Munger Bros. Farms; and Salem, OR-based Pan-American Berry Growers LLC -- have banded together to form Naturipe Foods LLC, a value-added berry-marketing company.

Pan-American Berry Growers was not previously part of sister fresh-pack company Naturipe Farms and is new to the mix.

Brooks Tropicals' Homestead, FL, packinghouse, shipping docks and storage cooler were recently audited, and the inspector was quite pleased and impressed by what he found.

According to a Brooks press release, the facilities were so on target that the food-safety inspector had trouble believing his eyes, and he said that he planned to come back to see it again.

Louis Pizzo Sr., the former mayor of Deerfield Township, NJ, and one of better-known citizens of Rosenhayn, NJ, died the evening of Friday, June 27, 2008, in the hospice inpatient unit at the Bridgeton Health Center in Bridgeton, NJ. Mr. Pizzo was a lifelong resident of Deerfield Township and had been in declining health. He was 91.

NEW YORK -- If you've been to New York and missed eating at Peter Luger Steak House, get your carnivore appetite back here.

The Brooklyn location (a second restaurant on Long Island in Great Neck opened in 1960) has been dishing out the finest USDA Prime steaks since 1887. It was originally established as Carl Luger's Caf?, Billiards & Bowling Alley in the predominantly German neighborhood tucked under the Williamsburg Bridge.

On July 27, The Produce Exchange will show the new variety of Roma tomato developed by vegetable-seed company Nunhems at the upcoming 2008 Produce Marketing Association's Foodservice Conference, to be held July 25- 27 in Monterey, CA.

The tomato was introduced at the United Fresh Produce Association/Food Marketing Institute convention held in May in Las Vegas and drew a lot of positive responses, said Dennis Werner, general manager for the branded group at The Produce Exchange, which is based in Livermore, CA.

SALINAS, CA -- Rumors about the financial health of Mills Family Farms have been circulating for months, and the firm is currently working on restructuring its businesses, according to a well-known public relations figure recently retained by the company.

"There are a number of discussions that are taking place daily" in an effort to resolve Mills' problems, said David Armanasco, a recognized public relations figure in Monterey County.

In addition to its farming operations, Mills has substantial real estate holdings in the Monterey area.