Toronto business updates
J.E. Russell Produce beefs up two jobs
Two employees at J.E. Russell Produce Ltd. have taken on more responsibility, said Hutch Morton, senior vice president.
Mike Pirri is in charge of a new citrus program with Kings River Packing. Pirri is also responsible for purchasing and sales of melons and pineapples, the latter exclusively from Chestnut Hill Farms.
“Previously known as ‘Mikey Melons,’ he is currently looking for a new nickname,” Morton said.
And Marco Corbo has been promoted to vice president of sales and operations. With the company for 25 years, Corbo was most recently the director of operations, purchasing and sales for the berry category. In his new role, Corbo will continue to manage the berry category.
“Marco’s longstanding connections with customers and deep understanding of Russell operations and personnel made him ideally suited for this new role,” Morton said.
North American Produce Buyers sees more South American produce
Sun World varieties of grapes imported from South America started coming in early January, said Steven Moffat, vice president of finance at North American Produce Buyers at the Ontario Food Terminal in Toronto.
The Sable, a black-purple grape from South Africa and Peru and Autumn Crisp, a green grape from Peru and Chile, are the stars.
“Those are the hot varieties just starting now, and we’ll have them around through at least March, maybe April,” Moffat said.
Ontario Food Terminal improves waste facility
A new waste handling building came onstream late November and early December, said Bruce Nicholas, general manager and secretary-treasurer of the Ontario Food Terminal Board.
It’s a project that’s been ongoing for the past two years.
“We don’t leave anything behind. Anything that comes in, goes into a warehouse, cold storage or is sold. If not, it’s recycled or sent to food banks,” he said. “Now we’re just humming along, recycling everything you can think of. We’ve always been recycling for years, but now we have more space to do even more.”
The market donated more than 200,000 pounds of food to food banks: “Our tenants have been great in a terrible year,” Nicholas said.
— By Amy Sowder
