Page 178 - Roduce Editorials News Today

The Eastern Produce Council and South Carolina celebrated their 50th anniversary together at TopGolf in Edison, NJ, on Tuesday, April 26. This meeting marked the 50th consecutive year SCDA came up to New Jersey to sponsor a meeting for the council.  Marianne Santo, EPC president and category manager of Wakefern Food Corp., welcomed the group and thanked the department for its decades of support.

Blue Book recently launched New Hire Academy 2.0, a refreshed suite of online instructional videos to help industry new hires.  “Sourcing, selling, and transporting fresh produce isn’t easy,” said Doug Nelson, vice president of Blue Book’s special services division.  “There’s always something to know and learn, whether you’re a new hire or an industry veteran looking for a refresher on a particular topic.”  

MINNEAPOLIS — Iowa-based grocery retailer Hy-Vee is revising its growth plans and selling five of its undeveloped sites in the Twin Cities metro area. In 2020, the company closed an online fulfillment center in Eagan and now it’s abandoning plans to build new stores in Farmington, Chaska, Blaine, West St. Paul and Maple Grove, MN. The land that was purchased over the past six years will be offloaded since it’s “not properly situated” for the larger, 150,000-square-foot stores that Hy-V...

BJ's Wholesale Club, a leading operator of membership warehouse clubs in the Eastern United States, announced the opening of BJ’s market, a new concept club in Warwick, RI. BJ’s market is 43,000 square feet, about half the size of a full-sized BJ’s club. BJ’s market will feature top-selling fresh foods, produce, sundries and seasonal products for members of BJ’s Wholesale club.

Naturipe’s California strawberries are in peak production with high-quality and flavorful berries. Peak volumes are starting now and expected to last through June. This season, Naturipe Farms is set to have its highest volumes of strawberries, as all California regions are in full production. Oxnard, Santa Maria and Watsonville-Salinas are producing at peak volumes with great quality and supplies. The company said it has a mix of proprietary and U.C. varieties to bring customers the best of bo...

Yerecic Label announced the opening of its Phoenix facility, which is over 40,000 square feet with two printing presses currently running. The facility has room for three additional presses, with one of those presses already being prepared for installation. “Adding a location in Phoenix is a strategic opportunity as a large number of our customers are located in the West,” said Yerecic Label President Art Yerecic. “It’s important to Yerecic Label to expand our ability to service customer...

The initial crop estimate for Northwest cherries will be delayed at least a week, due to the unusually cool weather experienced mid-April, according to Northwest Cherries of Yakima, WA. The Pacific Northwest saw uncharacteristically low temperatures the week leading up to the Easter holiday, where orchards in Wenatchee, WA, saw over 16 inches of snow and record lows dropping to 26 degrees overnight, shattering previously held April records.

Ten Acre Marketing hired marketing expert Angela Sommers as an account supervisor. Most recently, Sommers was the director of marketing and communications for BelleHarvest, where she led marketing efforts for the sales organization, including campaign development, category planning and innovative variety management.

Even in a week when almost 63 million pounds of avocados were available for sale in the U.S. market, demand continued to outstrip supply and the FOB price remained extremely high.

Jimmy Myrick, vice president of Pompano Beach, FL-based Edward L. Myrick Produce, is happy to report that business this past year started to get back to normal as the country slowly reopened.