Page 44 - Roduce Editorials News Today

As part of its ongoing growth, Latitude 36 Foods continued its expansion with the completion of a new 250,000-square-foot manufacturing and warehouse facility in Corona, CA.

It's halfway through the selling season and Satsuma mandarins and other cold hardy citrus varietals are still in abundant supply according to the Cold Hardy Citrus Association. Growers had predicted this year’s harvest would be favorable at the season’s start, and the groves are  producing beyond those early expectations. “We are seeing good quality, bigger size, and lots of volume left to pick on trees, especially for Satsumas,” said Kim Jones, current president of the CHCA.

After nearly three decades on the Superfresh Growers sales team, Dan Harrington, account manager, will retire at the end of the year.

MountainKing is kicking off 2023 with a first-quarter sales contest offering produce managers the chance to win cash prizes for the merchandising and sales of the company’s top-selling Baby Golds in 24-ounce, three-pound and bulk offerings.

NOGALES, AZ —  IPR Fresh will celebrate its 20th anniversary in business this December, marking a progression that saw the company first operating as a broker before evolving into its current status as a top distributor of Bell peppers and other staple Mexican vegetables. Jose Luis Obregon, president of IPR Fresh, here, said the company was founded by his late father, Francisco Pancho Obregon, a well-known member of the Nogales produce scene who died in 2015.

The fourth Eastern Produce Council Leadership Class culminated its 2022 educational program by attending the New York Produce Show and participating in Cornell University’s Foundational Excellence Future-Leaders-In-Produce event at the show.

Fresh Farms, a grower-shipper of Mexican produce items based in Rio Rico, AZ, is seeing light volumes on Bell peppers and sweet corn due to earlier weather in both the Florida and Mexico growing regions, but overall quality has been outstanding mostly in part due to more temperate growing conditions.

The online grocery market finished November with $7.7 billion in total sales, down 10 percent compared to a year ago, but only 2 percent lower than the $7.8 billion reported for the two prior months, according to the monthly Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey.

Calavo Growers Inc. announced its new sustainability strategy and 2030 goals. Built on four pillars — climate action, social responsibility, sustainable agriculture and sound governance — the company's strategy is designed to focus its efforts on the environmental, social and governance issues that matter most.

Food technology company Apeel and U.K. grocery giant Asda have seen success through an ongoing partnership in store locations across the United Kingdom that has reduced year-over-year in-store food waste in the citrus and avocado categories, compared to control stores. Asda locations offering Apeel-protected produce saw a 36 percent decrease in citrus waste and 10 percent decrease in avocado waste, when compared to control stores.