Page 12 - Roduce Marketers News Today

The Giant Co. added four electric vehicles to its fleet serving the greater Philadelphia community. The electric vans will fulfill Giant Direct customer deliveries while reducing the company’s environmental footprint, safeguarding nearly 9,000 gallons of gas each year.

IFCO, a leading provider of Reusable Packaging Containers, delivered over 2 billion reusable packaging shipments of fresh produce, meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, bread and other fresh grocery products during 2022. With a circular economy business model based on share-reduce-reuse principles, IFCO enabled its supply chain customers to achieve substantial environmental savings.

When the FDA released the Final Rule on FSMA Section 204 in November, one of the biggest changes was the addition of the requirement to capture and record Critical Tracking Events or CTE’s. The FDA defines a “Critical Tracking Event to mean an event in the supply chain of a food involving the harvesting, cooling (before initial packing), initial packing of a RAC other than a food obtained from a fishing vessel... shipping, receiving or transformation of the food.”

Americans believe that grocery retailers are earning a 35.2 percent net profit margin, more than 10 times higher than grocers’ actual net profit margin average of 2.5 percent, and that food-at-home inflation is 24.3 percent, double the annual rate reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, according to the latest dunnhumby Consumer Trends Tracker. The CTT is part of the dunnhumby Quarterly, a strategic market analysis of key retail themes, with the third edition being focused on navigati...

While Seeded Produce provides a full complement of Mexican produce, its melon crops are a shining star of the lineup. “Our line of melons consists of honeydews, cantaloupes, Hami melons, mini-watermelons and seedless watermelons, which are available from October through May, depending on the variety,” said Omar Losolla, managing member of Seeded Produce, based in Nogales, AZ. Losolla said an abundance of rain during the fall resulted in fruit that was larger in size than normal, owing to the...

United Natural Foods Inc. wrapped up its Natural & Conventional Spring & Summer Show in Orlando, FL, last week, hosting over 1,000 brands and more than 2,000 customers. The show was the first of four major buying shows UNFI will deliver in 2023 and the first to bring together all natural and conventional products covering every store department and category. Shows are a valuable way UNFI utilizes its scale, insights, and innovative offerings to help community grocers of all sizes differe...

Soup & stew season is here and Hanan from @Ohmygoodiescc has shared her favorite hearty vegan meal for when the temperature drops. This Tomato, Eggplant & Chickpea Stew is the ultimate comfort meal plus it’s easy to make and full of fresh flavors from greenhouse grown veggies!

During its 16 years in business, Grower Alliance has developed a reputation as a leading grower-shipper of watermelons. It is now taking another step forward in that regard with a new program out of the Dominican Republic. Michelle Ramirez-Jacobson said Grower Alliance began operations in the DR last year and just received its first load of watermelons on Jan. 23 “In fact, they are going through Customs as we speak,” she told The Produce News on Jan. 24.

Produce for Better Health’s first marketing event of the year — the Consumer Connection Conference — will be held in Scottsdale, AZ, April 10-12. Now as part of the International Fresh Produce Association’s Foundation for Fresh Produce, PBH’s annual signature event bodes to convene one of the most powerful groups of fruit and vegetable advocates in history.

While every National Watermelon Queen’s reign must come to an end after a year, Eleanor Bullock has managed to keep her title as the NWA Promotions Coordinator for nearly 40 years, and while she’s truly cherished the relationships she’s built and memories she’s made, alas it is finally time to pass down her coordinator crown.