Sunny Valley International, headquartered in Glassboro, NJ, announced June 15 that Steve Pinkston will be retiring, effective June 20.

A 40-year veteran of the produce industry, Pinkston joined Sunny Valley as the director of business development in 2018 after spending nearly 25 years in various produce sourcing and procurement roles at Walmart. Prior to joining Walmart in 1994, he spent 18 years with Food Lion.

"We want to extend our sincere thanks to Steve for the work that he has done over the past three years to strengthen Sunny Valley International's relationships with retailers up and

Produce Marketing Association has officially opened registration for this year’s Fresh Summit which will be held in person in New Orleans.  The event is in its 72nd year and will be one of the first times the entire global produce and floral industries will come together following the pandemic.  Fresh Summit 2021 will run from Thursday, Oct. 28 through Saturday, Oct. 30 and will feature three days of content and two full days to explore the expo floor. 

Cathy Burns will return for her highly anticipated State of the Industry session on Oct. 28 and then Daymond John, founder and CEO of FUBU

The Greenhouse Competitions annual Greenhouse Vegetable Awards in Leamington, ON, took place this past weekend. Showcasing the best greenhouse-grown produce from leading North American growers, family-owned Nature Fresh Farms came back to the competition, prevailing in its yearly tradition of receiving many top accolades, including overall winner of the Hottest Tomato with its newest Umami Cherry Tomato, in addition to winning the entire Bite-Sized Tomato category with its Axiany placing third, Orange Cherry receiving second, and its Umami Cherry Tomato awarded first place.

Nature Fresh Farms

Tops Friendly Markets said it's looking for hardworking, active people to fill immediate full- and part-time openings. Those interested can take part in the company's virtual hiring event today until 6 p.m.

“We’ll be hiring right on the spot for hundreds of positions including those both in-store as well as in our warehouse,” said Kristine Wydro, director of human resources for Tops Friendly Markets. “Tops is always looking to add great new associates to our team and this will give interested applicants the chance to interview and even walk away with a job offer on the spot. By becoming a

Ten Acre Marketing, a full-service agricultural marketing firm, expanded its team, tapping fresh produce marketing veteran Mary Coppola Heslep. She joins Ten Acre Marketing as senior vice president of creative after leading the communication and marketing function for United Fresh Produce Association over the past seven years.

At United Fresh, Coppola Heslep was a key member of the executive team providing strategic direction to advance the association and the needs of members. She’s best known for the creation of BrandStorm, an annual produce industry  marketing event, developed for produce

It was a great day on the links for the Eastern Produce Council, which hosted its 46th annual Sal Zacchia, Phil LaRocca and Pete Piastra Memorial Golf Outing at Fox Hollow Golf Club in Branchburg, NJ, on Saturday, June12.   

The winning team, with a score of 53, was Four Seasons’ Pat Powers, Wes Jones, Pat Campellone and Jake Barwell.  The second place team, with a score of 60, was Brendan Burns and Doug Johnson of Bolthouse Farms and Matt Bernat of Curation Foods.

The Longest Drive winners were Wes Jones and Dylan Dembeck, and the Closest to the Pin winners were Samer Rahman, Tony