In Cape Town, South Africa, a Seatrade refrigerated breakbulk vessel bearing the season's first South African citrus bound for the United States was loaded May 25 and is due to dock June 24 in the port of Philadelphia.

WASHINGTON -- The 2010 Dietary Guidelines should recommend that Americans shift their food intake patterns to a more plant-based diet that emphasizes vegetables, cooked dry beans and peas, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds, according to a new report delivered June 15 to top Obama administration officials. Every five years, the federal government names an advisory panel to scrutinize the latest science and make nutritional recommendations to the U.S.

Southern Specialties, a distributor of specialty produce items located in Pompano Beach, FL, is expanding its headquarters facility in support of the growth of its value-added line.

Charlie Eagle, vice president of business development for the company, told The Produce News June 11 that the firm has signed an agreement to acquire additional warehouse space at its headquarters and distribution facility.

Leah Chester-Davis knew she needed to find some way to promote the North Carolina MarketReady educational and informational research program, a partnership of the North Carolina State University College of Agriculture & Life Sciences and the North Carolina Cooperative Extension based in Kannapolis. She did not expect to discover a star.

A California court has ruled that a price-after-sale arrangement is a legitimate way to do business in the fruit and vegetables industry and is different than a consignment sale, which, according to California law, has much more burdensome accounting requirements.

The case, which has been winding though the courts for more than a half- dozen years, involved a California pomegranate grower, his local marketer and terminal market wholesalers around the country.

CASTROVILLE, CA -- Ocean Mist Farms is leveraging the location of its ranches along the Highway 1 corridor in Northern California to generate consumer awareness for the company by installing four, 12-foot-high color signs to face both northbound and southbound traffic.

The four signs, installed the beginning of June, feature a color picture of Hugo Tottino, one of the company's grower-owners.