John Shuman, president and CEO of Shuman Farms in Cobbtown, GA, has been named the 2020 Grower of the Year by the Vidalia Onion Committee in recognition of Shuman’s contributions to the industry for more than 25 years.
March 8, 2021
Tarrytown, NY-based fresh fruit importer, Jac. Vandenberg, Inc. has announced that their Sunrays brand grapes will now be available year-round thanks to the addition of California to its lineup of growers.
Already sourced from Peru, Chile and Mexico, the addition of California gives retailers and consumers alike a year-round grape brand to trust and rely on.
“We are thrilled to now offer Sunrays grapes year-round. It was always a goal of ours from the moment we began discussing the idea of expanding Sunrays into the grape category,” says John Paap, Brand Marketing Manager at Jac. Vandenberg. “Over the last couple of years, we’ve heard from many of our retail partners the challenges of carrying a multitude of labels and varieties that constantly change week to week, month to month and season to season. The message was clear, retailers want a single, reliable, year-round grape brand on the shelves and we are proud to offer Sunrays as a solution.”
Albertsons Cos. has partnered with Tortoise, an automated logistics company focused on last-mile solutions, to pilot its remote-controlled zero-emission delivery cart in Northern California.
March 8, 2021
In a complaint filed on March 16, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture alleged that Enson Group LLC, doing business as Eternal Food Service in Cincinnati, failed to make full payment promptly in the total amount of $707,592 to 12 sellers for multiple lots of produce in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. In this case, Enson Group paid sellers for produce, but not promptly pursuant to the PACA.
After the complaint was filed, USDA and Enson Group entered into a consent decision and order in which it agreed to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $6,500 for making untimely payments to sellers for produce purchases. As a result of Enson Group satisfying the terms of the consent decision and order, the finding that it had committed repeated and flagrant PACA violations was permanently abated without further process and the case has been closed.
March 8, 2021
For the latest 12 weeks ending Feb. 21, apples continued their dollars up and volume down trajectory and experienced a 1.2 percent growth in dollars, according to Stemilt s Fruit Tracker Fast Facts The Cast series, which is based on Nielsen retail scan data. The pear category was up 13 percent in dollars and 6 percent in volume over the latest 12 weeks.
“Retail prices of apples inched up between December 2020 and February 2021, and are up 11 cents year over year,” said Brianna Shales, Stemilt marketing director. “This is due mostly to a shorter national apple crop this year. Apples are still competitively priced and ready for regular and big promotions as we head into the spring season.”