The 2021 Georgia peach season anticipates a full, consistent, healthy crop due to the lengthy, cold winter the country has been experiencing.  Peach-growing areas of Georgia have logged over 1,000 chill hours, more than 300 hours above the average of 700 hours annually. This year’s cold weather has provided the foundation for uniform blooms in all varieties throughout Georgia peach season, anticipated to kick off in mid-May and last through mid-August.

“With over 1,000 hours of chill, we’re excited about what that means for the length and fullness of this year’s crop,” said Duke Lane III

GRAPEVINE, TX — What a 12-month period in Texas! The Viva Fresh Expo, March 26-27, gave Texas’ produce industry a chance to exhale after taking a beating for what seemed a very long time.

In March 2020, of course, The Lone Star State joined the rest of the world in suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The fifth annual Viva Fresh Expo was canceled for 2020.

Toner of United Fresh Produce Association and Dr. Ian Smith, an
author of nutrition books, whose work has become central to a
healthy eating campaign promoted by TIPA.  Toner discussed his
loss of 110 pounds under Smith’s program." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c68fbf07-9c4b-434e-a5f2-5aa199e54241" height="265" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/John-Tate-Ian-Smith.jpg" width="433">

Then south Texas was struck by a major hurricane in the summer.  Power was lost for cold warehouses — and offices.  Some physical damage occurred, and a few distributors are still working in temporary quarters. 

Of course, the produce

The Texas International Association announced a new partnership with the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley at last week’s Viva Fresh Expo’s keynote luncheon. Food Bank RGV’s Viva Fresh Produce Pledge, “A Gift from Farms to Families” is a new program that will serve as a year-round collection effort of fresh produce donations to help food insecure communities in Texas.

Participating companies can pledge in 2021 to provide fruits and vegetables in 2022. Whether it be a single load, multiple loads or on a rotating basis throughout the year, TIPA and Food Bank RGV will in turn provide this

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has imposed sanctions on Imperial Frozen Foods Op Co LLC in Wake Forest, NC, for violating the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. These sanctions include barring the business and the principal operator of the business from engaging in PACA-licensed business or other activities without approval from USDA.

Imperial failed to pay $5.25 million to 30 sellers for produce that was purchased, received and accepted in interstate and foreign commerce from May 2019 to January 2020. This is in violation of the PACA. Imperial cannot operate in the produce industry

Main Street Produce, situated in the fertile Santa Maria Valley of California, farms its own product through its sister company, Freshway Farms. The company started off 2021 with some big news regarding its strawberry segment.

“We are a people- and customer-centric organization, and we felt like the best way we can support our people and customers was by expanding our strawberry acreage,” said Roger Privett III, sales and business development manager for the Santa Maria, CA-based company.

To support this expanded acreage, Main Street Produce has decided to bring on some new customers, while

Thermal Technologies, a leading designer/installer of commercial ripening rooms, recently completed work on a first-of-its-kind ripening room facility in Nueva Colonia, Columbia, just  south of Turbo. The rooms were part of a new banana processing plant built to produce a variety of purees as well as banana flour.

“We were excited about this project right from the start,” said David Byrne, VP of sales for Thermal Tech. “From a design and engineering perspective, creating a new type of banana ripening room for an entirely new application was the kind of challenge we truly look forward to as a