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Freshfel Europe recently held its annual general meeting in Brussels, Belgium, with its members celebrating its tenth anniversary while also electing a board for the term 2012-2014. At the meeting, Europe’s main fresh produce trade association elected Philippe Henri of Creno/UNCGFL as president, with Luc Clerx (Zespri) as vice-president and Jerome Fabre (Compagnie Fruitière) as treasurer.

Spanish broccoli promotional body +Brócoli elected Simón Conesa as president at its third annual general meeting in Totana.

Norman Collett, the eponymous founder of the prominent UK topfruit marketing company, has passed away aged 80 after a short illness. Collett was a well-known and popular figure in the English topfruit industry, and a champion for the fruit growers of Kent.

Alessandro Canalella has been named managing director of Simba, the Mediterranean fruit import subsidiary of Italian giant GF Group. Joining the Simba board of directors as well, he takes over the role from Raffaella Orsero, who nevertheless will continue as president of the company alongside two other advisory directors, GF Group chief executive Antonio Orsero and Daniele Gazzano.

The board of New Zealand fresh produce company Turners & Growers (T&G) has announced the appointment of Josef Krapf as a director. Krapf will serve on the board as a representative of T&G’s majority shareholder, BayWa.

In the US, Florida Citrus Mutual’s board of directors has elected officers for the 2012/13 season, with Mark Wheeler of Wheeler Farms serving as the group’s president during the year, succeeding Victor Story.

US-based berry producer Naturipe Farms has announced the appointment of Donna Lynn Johnson as director of food safety and social responsibility.