Despite its devastating impact on the world, the coronavirus pandemic bore important lessons for society. But for the FDA, which specific lessons were learned?

This was among the questions answered by Frank Yiannas, Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response for the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, who was the featured guest of a Sept. 24 United Fresh Produce Washington Congress virtual session titled “Partnership with FDA and the Fresh Produce Industry.” He engaged in a dialogue with Jennifer McEntire, United’s vice president of food safety and technology.

The pair credited FDA with

Working together with private sector, higher education partners, the South Texas Assets Consortium and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is gaining up to 10 paid agriculture interns that learn valuable work skills while assisting CBP to process commercial produce shipments at Rio Grande Valley ports of entry.  

“This is a fantastic opportunity to help provide local college students looking for an agricultural/biological sciences career, possibly as a future CBP agriculture specialist, to learn valuable agriculture inspection, pest interception

Organic apples and pears had the strongest monthly growth Superfresh Growers has recently seen. Both categories were up nearly 30 percent in the month of August. Organic apples were up 30 percent in dollars, while organic pears were up 29 percent in volume. Since COVID-19, organic dollars have been climbing, and this is the third month in a row where apple growth has been up more than 19 percent.

The overall apple category has maintained good sales as we emerge from summer, despite a late Labor Day and a COVID-disrupted back-to-school schedule. Apple volume was up 2 percent in volume and flat

Recent years have been good for the produce packaging company Sev-Rend.

Jeff Watkin, the St. Louis-based company’s director of marketing, and Art Vega, vice president of sales and marketing, recently spoke with The Produce News about the company’s position and outlook for the future.

Watkin noted that Sev-Rend is meeting environmental interests with a new and expanding strong line of sustainable packaging materials. This, combined with suddenly heightened retail interest in merchandising packaged produce, substantially accelerated sales to grocers in these months of the coronavirus pandemic

It is a little-known fact that Mastronardi Produce, the company behind one of the world’s first branded tomatoes, actually has its roots in lettuce. In the 1940s, when Armando Mastronardi bought a farm after his arrival in Canada, his first crop was not tomatoes — it was lettuce. Now the company is returning to its roots and launching a new lettuce brand, Queen of Greens.

“We are always looking for better ways to deliver on the food that people have been used to settling for,” said Paul Mastronardi, president and CEO of Mastronardi Produce. “It’s why we’re always pushing the boundaries on

The recent launch of new grape varietal logos by International Fruit Genetics has helped the Bakersfield, CA-based breeder improve clarity in a category where differing names for the same fruit often persist. “It’s a prescriptive approach,” explained Andy Higgins, CEO of IFG. “Let’s clean it up to help all involved understand what we're offering, and consumers know what they’re buying.” The program is intended to provide value for all involved, with IFG providing graphic files and logo use guidelines, and placing it in the hands of growers and marketers to bring them forward.

“If you go back