Westfalia Fruit named Raina Nelson president of its U.S. operations as of the end of August. Nelson, a well-known trailblazer in the global produce industry, will succeed outgoing President Art Bruno, who is retiring after six years at Westfalia Marketing USA.

Nelson is a practiced business leader whose diverse experience in the fresh produce industry includes marketing, procurement, food safety, sales and supply chain. Nelson joins Westfalia Fruit’s global leadership team to lead the fully integrated business in providing 100 percent U.S. coverage and beyond from its own and selected partner

Progressive Produce announced Andy Webb as its director of sales and business development for the company's citrus division.

"Andy is a big investment in the future of our citrus division. He has consistently made Progressive and our partners better in all his prior roles, and I expect this will be more of the same," said Cory Stahl, vice president of sales. "With his sales experience throughout North America, representing all channels and sectors of the food industry within our asparagus division, we're really excited to see how Andy will enhance us in his new role."

Webb will be working

Summer just got a little bit sweeter with J. Marchini's 2021 fig crop. J. Marchini Farms, Joe’s Premium fig season began with the Breba crop in the beginning of June, which is the first short crop that only lasts for a few weeks. Now they are kicking off their main fig crop, which will be going from August to October and includes three different varieties: Black Mission, Brown Turkey and Kadota.

• Black Mission figs have a delicate, purple-black skin that conceals a dark pink flesh and are a versatile fruit that are good in a variety of savory and sweet dishes. They can be made into jellies

The Kroger Co. and ghost kitchen industry leader Kitchen United announced a partnership to offer customers freshly prepared, on-demand restaurant food.

"Our customers' appetite for fresh, on-demand meals continues to accelerate, and we remain focused on offering new and innovative products that provide anything, anytime, anywhere," said Dan De La Rosa, Kroger's group vice president of fresh merchandising "Our partnership with Kitchen United taps into restaurants' growing use of off-premise kitchen space to increase customers' access to their favorite foods."

The off-premise restaurant

Wisconsin red potato harvest is under way at Alsum Farms in Grand Marsh, WI, with the first potato loads being washed, graded and packed for fresh market delivery to distribution centers and retail grocers the first full week of August.

“We are having ideal weather for the first harvest of red potatoes this summer at Alsum Farms,” said Larry Alsum, president and CEO of Alsum Farms & Produce in Friesland, WI.

Gold potato harvest will get under way Aug. 6. Alsum Farms russet potato harvest will begin Aug. 16 with the Pacific Russet variety, an early season variety that will be the first of new

Stemilt’s Artisan Organics peach and nectarine season continues to thrive through these hot summer months with excellent quality and “some of the best flavor” to date, said Brianna Shales, Stemilt marketing director. Retailers can load now to boost their category for the weeks to come and delight consumers around the country with some world famous sweet and juicy organic stone fruit.

“There are promotable bag opportunities for the next two weeks while peach and nectarine sizes trend smaller,” said Shales. “Bag options include our well-known organic Lil Snappers two-pound resealable pouch bag