Page 147 - Roduce Editorials News Today

When foodservice operations shut down in the spring of 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, supermarkets experienced a big jump in sales with fresh produce a favored item among consumers. Are the numbers still up? Are other factors such as inflation and labor causing issues?

The California Walnut Board and the California Walnut Commission named Robert Verloop executive director and CEO, effective July 11. The CWB and CWC represent over 4,500 California walnut growers and nearly 90 handlers, producing over 1.4 billion pounds of walnuts in 2021 that ship to more than 50 countries around the world.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) developed the Virginia Grown domestic marketing program in 1995 to promote items grown or raised in the Commonwealth. Since then, the marketing program has grown to provide additional assistance to farmers, farmers markets, growers, and producers throughout Virginia.  In March of 2022, VDACS rebranded the Virginia Grown logo and program.

TOMRA Food’s integrated solutions automate the processing and packaging of blueberries to maximize efficiency in the packhouse and optimize the value of crops. Precise optical sorting and sizing of blueberries, using the KATO260, allows TOMRA’s customers to stream their products into various grades.

When the calendar hits mid-June, all eyes in the produce industry turns to the Eastern Shore, as farmers are readying crops like cabbage, green beans, potatoes, sweet corn and more. The Eastern Shore companies will start shipping produce at the end of June and go through the month of July, filling the important time slot between North Florida’s end and Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and the others that don’t start harvesting until late July.

The Produce News is proud to present the produce industry’s second annual Concours d' Fresh. We asked to see your wheels and you didn’t disappoint. This virtual car show features anything on wheels worth driving — or seeing. Get a look at what some of your fellow industry friends and colleagues ride in on the way to the airport before meeting up with you at trade shows.

Heartfelt tributes to stellar spuds were just the ticket for higher produce sales during the Idaho Potato Commission’s 31st annual retail display contest. Retailers across the country took home more than $150,000 in cash and prizes for their winning entries in this year’s Idaho Potato Lovers Display Contest — and IPC reports that test stores with secondary displays of Idaho russets deliver a nearly 10 times growth advantage, while comparison stores with no secondary display achieve an aver...

Raley’s opened its newest Raley’s O-N-E Market in Roseville, CA, representing the fourth store under the new banner. Raley’s O-N-E Market offers a unique store experience centered around the brand acronym Organics, Nutrition and Education. Raley’s O-N-E Market offers a highly curated assortment of better-for-you, natural, and organic options, alongside the most popular conventional products, to deliver healthy and convenient options at an affordable price.  

With diversified production in a handful of Eastern Seaboard states and year-round supplies of some of its core commodities, vegetable-centric Parker Farms of Oak Grove, VA, is built to withstand the pressure of fluctuating markets.

New Jersey peach growers are poised to provide you with a good crop of sweet, full-sized peaches in 2022, and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture is positioned to help growers and retailers get the word out that Jersey Fresh peaches are in season. The NJDA will once again be working alongside the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council to drive consumer demand. From late-June through early September, our Jersey Fresh growers will be supplying harvests of yellow and white peaches throughout the N...