Page 152 - Roduce Editorials News Today

Keystone Fruit Marketing, a division of Progressive Produce, is known for its year-round onion program. Dan Borer, the company's commodity manager, said this year's crop has good quality and an early start.

Co-presidents Steven Espinosa and Albert Grimaldi are leading the charge at Fru-Veg Marketing. Three seasons ago, the company partnered with Berry Bros. allowing Fru-Veg to expand its blueberry program to include domestic blueberries to customers from farm-to-table and also create a 12-month, year-round supply of fresh blueberries. Now the two companies have started a bigger project together.

McDaniel Fruit Co. is a third-generation, family-owned vertical integrated international avocado grower, packer and marketer, with its home base in Fallbrook, CA, which has been operating since the 1950s. “As the industry has grown in popularity, our company has grown with it,” said Rankin H. McDaniel, president of the company.

New England retailer Big Y is investing in its store teams through a multi-million dollar increase in starting pay rates for all clerks, customer service, fresh food and center store specialists, and assistant department managers as of June 26.

The Michigan asparagus crop was delayed by about a week, but now the state's harvest is in full swing with excellent quality and spear tips that are tight and extremely flavorful.

Ten Acre Marketing hired experienced creative professional Tricia Benedetto as its creative director. Most recently Benedetto led creative departments within food, giving and entertainment agencies. Her experience was forged through early career opportunities working with creative icons Milton Glaser and Ralph Lauren in New York City.

This past weekend, Canadians across the country placed gorgeous blooms into their home gardens and outdoor spaces. For those in Western Canada, there’s a good chance the florals they purchased at their local Walmart Garden Centre are from Rainbow Greenhouses, based in Chilliwack, BC. Like many of Walmart Canada’s nearly 2,100 Canadian suppliers, Rainbow Greenhouses is family-owned-and-operated.

The International Fresh Produce Association will be back in Monterey, CA, for the annual Foodservice Conference July 28-29. The full schedule has been announced and includes prime networking programming, the expo and keynote speaker and Food Network star Robert Irvine.

Sixty years ago Hendrik and Fred Meijer opened a store in Grand Rapids called Thrifty Acres and pioneered the American supercenter. While that innovative concept has grown into a retail phenomenon, Meijer aims to continuously improve the shopping experience and support community organizations in ways that embody the retailer's values.

While summer stone fruit takes up grocery store shelves, Stemilt is gearing up for this year’s Rave apple season and encouraging retailers to do the same. Stemilt’s Brianna Shales said Rave apples will be a jumpstart to the apple category and will provide a special limited-time opportunity to boost apple dollars through volume.