NEW_YORK -- Moe Cohen, one of the few remaining produce dealers who in 1967 moved from New York's Washington Street Market to the Hunts Point Terminal Market, died Feb. 22 at age 91.

Mr. Cohen's son Martin said his father was one of three founders of Amigo Foods Corp., which he said was once one of the three larger businesses in the Hunts Point market.

The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas in Nogales, AZ, which represents over 100 U.S. member companies involved in growing, packing, sales and transportation of fresh fruits and vegetables grown in Mexico, is continuing its "very popular promotion outreach to retailers" this year, said Veronica Kraushaar, owner of Viva Marketing, which represents the association in some of its promotional activities.

Banana prices are rising as farms in Central America and Ecuador have suffered severe weather, which has reduced supplies below demand levels.

Brian Kocher, president of Chiquita Brands North America, alerted Chiquita customers in a Feb. 22 letter that the Cincinnati-based marketer would invoke the force majeure clause in its contracts, and banana prices would rise $2 per box for pickups, effective March 2.

Celebrity Chef Emeril Lagasse will host a new television series "Emeril Green" on Planet Green, Discovery Communications' new 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network that will reach more than 50 million U.S. homes.

Planet Green network is set to launch June 4 with a full slate of original series and specials premiering throughout the summer. The "Emeril Green" series is slated for a July launch and will be shot exclusively in a Whole Foods store in Fairfax, VA. A pilot episode was shot during the first week of March, and the show will air at 8 p.m. five days a week.

In 2007, The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, invested in new packaging equipment to facilitate two-, three-, five- and 10-pound consumer packs of the famed Texas sweet onion.

"But we ended up shipping very few bags last year," said Don Ed Holmes, president of the Rio Grande Valley growing, packing and shipping operation.

It is highly unlikely that 2008 will bring a change in the U.S. Department of Agriculture marketing order that would regulate what is essentially a cutoff date for some varieties of Chilean grapes.