Page 79 - Roduce Editorials News Today

The Idaho Potato Commission recently announced the addition of Sam Eaton as the new vice president of legal and government affairs. Additionally, industry veteran Travis Blacker was promoted to vice president of industry relations and research, and Ross Johnson has been promoted to vice president of retail and international.

Noting the 2022 early crop had been moving well, Weiser Onion Produce Sales/Management Consultant Herb Haun said during the third week of September that harvest crews were well into the season’s storage crop.

Due to the overwhelming need for disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Ian, the Southeast Produce Council made a $10,000 donation to Samaritan’s Purse, which has three disaster relief units in Florida — Fort Myers, Englewood and Punta Gorda.

United Natural Foods Inc. has appointed Erin Horvath to the position of chief supply chain transformation officer, a new role that will collaborate across functions to help build UNFI’s transformation agenda and future capabilities, drive value creation for shareholders, and create an improving experience for customers and suppliers. She reports to Sandy Douglas, UNFI’s CEO.

Piggly Wiggly Midwest stores has partnered with Focal Systems, an industry leader in retail automation. Piggly Wiggly Midwest will be piloting the Focal Operating System in its Wisconsin and Illinois stores. FocalOS digitizes the entire store in order to automate and optimize ordering, inventory management, merchandising and in-store labor with the objective to deliver a better experience to customers.

Investcorp, a leading global alternative investment firm, has acquired a majority stake in Sunrise Produce, a leading wholesale produce distribution company based in Southern California. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

As the 2022 onion crop ships full steam from Owyhee Produce in Nyssa, OR, the company is also moving ahead with its promotional plans for the year, according to Bailey Myers in marketing. Like other onion grower/shippers in the Treasure Valley, Owyhee Produce got a later start to the season and is seeing lower yields than normal due to weather conditions during planting and growing seasons. But Myers said the shed had been “putting in storage and shipping out from day one, which was the end of...

Local Bounti launched its chef-inspired, grab-and-go salads utilizing its own sustainably and locally grown lettuces. The company continues to deploy its state-of-the-art growing techniques to achieve sustainability metrics, while ultimately unlocking superior products for consumers to enjoy.

A trio of sessions focused on the ever-changing landscape of ag technology have been announced as part of the educational program for the upcoming Organic Grower Summit 2022 presented by Western Growers and OPN, slated for Nov. 30–Dec. 1 in Monterey, CA.

Pacific Trellis Fruit, owner of the Dulcinea brand, has hired Jay Schneider as its East Coast head of sales.  Schneider will be responsible for the sales team leadership of the New Jersey sales office as well as driving business strategy.