One day several years ago, as she and her father sat talking, Jessica Peri posed a question.

"I asked him what he was going to do when he retired," Ms. Peri recounted. "And he said he'd probably sell the company. It scared me -- I didn't want that to happen."

PHILADELPHIA -- Early maturity and Brix for Spanish clementines are better than normal, according to Bill Weyland, director of imports for Seald Sweet International LLC in Vero Beach, FL. The pre-Thanksgiving clementine varieties were developing internally at a faster rate than in 2005. With another shipload of clementines arriving in early December at Philadelphia's Tioga Marine Fruit Terminal, the citrus continued to look very good.

Most major players in the southern Texas produce industry are almost by definition importers of Mexican product.

"I do not know of a major [Rio Grande Valley] Texas shipper that isn't working both sides of the border," said John McClung, president of the Texas Produce Association.

Before the current National Football League season got underway, who would have predicted that the 2005 Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers would have compiled such a losing record thus far this year? Hard to believe, isn't it? It's amazing how professional sports teams can be so highly victorious one year and fall flat on their backs the next. It's a whole lot easier becoming number one than it is to remain number one.

This year's Chilean Hass avocado season is in full swing with a crop expected to provide the retail community with a consistent supply of fruit supported by an aggressive communications campaign.

VISALIA, CA -- Some 400 peach, plum and nectarine growers and shippers who gathered here for the California Tree Fruit Agreement's annual dinner bid farewell to Blair Richardson, who is stepping down after five years at the organization's helm, and welcomed the new president, Sheri Mierau, who has been serving as vice president of marketing.