Mark DeFrancesco, founder and president of 4M Fruit Distributors in Chelsea, MA, died on Friday, Feb. 17, of undetermined causes at the age of 71. 

Mr. DeFrancesco was born on March 25, 1951 and grew up in Salem, MA, graduating from Salem High School in 1969. He then went on to attend Bryant & Stratton Commercial School majoring in marketing. He was acquainted with the produce industry at a young age, working at John DeFrancesco & Sons, the family fruit and produce wholesale distributor, founded in 1918. As a young man, he managed a family-owned retail store before moving to the family’s

The California farm lands have needed water to remedy the dry drought areas for the longest time. Well, according to the National Weather Service, here comes more forecasted precipitation and low temperatures for California. 

The California Department of Water Resources reports that the season-to-date precipitation is 150 percent of normal in many areas from the Sierra Nevada. Some temperatures in Southern California recently reached 15 degrees below normal. 

This freaky weather will obviously have some impact on the farming areas. For one, it will delay growth and could possibly damage some

Fruit Logistica, the largest international trade fair in the fruit and vegetable sector, was held Feb. 8-10 in Berlin, bringing together attendees from around the world and offering exhibitors a platform to showcase their products and make contacts with potential buyers. 

It was the sixth participation for Salix Fruits, a leading company in the import and export of fresh fruits, which had a unique booth and one of the most popular and photographed in the fair.

With a big wallpaper with Messi and the Argentinian national team holding the World Cup, Salix’s booth was the scenery for plenty of

Should the banana retail be $1.99 a pound in 2023?

Inflation has forced prices up in all categories throughout the grocery store. We cannot escape the persistent reminding from the media. The egg crisis has been primarily used as the dominant representation of extreme runaway food prices. However, hardly any item on the grocery shelf, meat case, dairy, frozen food or the fresh produce department have escaped inflationary price increases — except one. The banana.

Looking back to the 1980s, the banana price was 69 cents per pound. During the 1990s that price hardly ever changed. Decades later

The ShopRite of Canton recently welcomed Registered Dietitian Hannah Waxler to its team to head up the store’s health and wellness outreach to customers.

"We are excited to have Hannah join our team. Her addition continues more than 12 years of serving the community through our wellness program, which includes in-store nutritional counseling, events and recipe demonstrations,” said Chuck Joseph, president of Joseph Family Markets, which operates the ShopRite of Canton.

As a ShopRite registered dietitian, Waxler provides complimentary health and wellness services for customers such as free

The U.S. Department of Agriculture imposed sanctions on four produce businesses for failing to meet contractual obligations to the sellers of produce they purchased and failing to pay reparation awards issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act.

These sanctions include suspending the businesses’ PACA licenses and barring the principal operators of the businesses from engaging in PACA-licensed business or other activities without approval from USDA.

The following businesses and individuals are currently restricted from operating in the produce industry:

• Andean Fresh Fruit