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For apple marketers, “buy local” isn’t just a quaint trend; it’s a key to success, even if the definition of “local” varies from market to market.

Fresh apple holdings on Dec. 1, 2019 totaled 118.3 million bushels, or 15% higher than a year earlier.

The Commerce Department’s decision in May to withdraw an agreement suspending an anti-dumping investigation on Mexican tomatoes entering the U.S. set off a contentious debate on imported tomatoes in 2019.

U.S. fresh market apple holdings on Jan. 1 totaled 103.97 million (42-pound) bushels, according to the U.S. Apple Association.

West Mexico provides a large amount of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the U.S. each winter, and that includes an ever-expanding selection of organic produce.

Organically grown products and sustainable packaging should go hand in hand, so many organic growers, shippers and distributors are launching programs to reduce the use of plastics.

While a mid-December “phase one” trade agreement with China lifted spirits and forestalled any escalation in the trade war with China, it did not immediately remove Chinese tariffs on fresh produce.

Mother Nature seemed to smile on growers throughout the U.S. as the 2019-20 citrus season got underway.

Mandarins continue to gain popularity among consumers, often at the expense of navel oranges. But it’s way too soon to count navels out.

Citrus has become one of the produce department’s leading organic items.