The watermelon category surpassed 3.5 billion pounds at retail in 2025, and new research from the National Watermelon Promotion Board delivers a clear roadmap for sustained growth. NWPB released its 2025 State of the Category Marketing Guide, equipping retailers, marketers and category managers with fact-based insights to drive year-round watermelon sales. The new research highlights how whole and cut watermelon play distinct, but complementary roles throughout the year.

The findings point to three clear opportunities for the industry to maximize retail sales:

Driscoll's launched The Berry Patch Book Club, a free children's storytelling platform that extends the brand's focus on shared moments from the family table into story time. The inaugural collection of four original books for early readers ages 5–6 is available now as free digital downloads on Driscolls.com.

The Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” report once again villainizes safe, healthy and affordable fruits and vegetables by misrepresenting U.S. Department of Agriculture pesticide data.

In its usual approach, EWG overstates the risk of consumer pesticide exposure by leaving out a key detail: more than 99 percent of the commodities sampled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in its annual Pesticide Data Program (PDP) report (the source material for the EWG report) have residues well below the stringent safety standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Gee Whiz has a new partnership with Sprouts Farmers Market, introducing its Goldsnap apple — a vibrant, flavorful variety available exclusively at Sprouts stores.

This season, California avocado growers will take center stage in the California Avocado Commission’s “Voice of the Grower” consumer marketing ads, an evolution of the award-winning “What’s Inside a California Avocado” campaign. By integrating the voices and the personal experiences of growers into the storytelling narratives established in the 2025 campaign, the commission will deepen consumers’ desire for premium California avocados and reinforce what makes California avocados special — the local growers who nurture the harvest with great care.

Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc. has moved its AI-powered meal planning and shopping assistant — SmartMeals — from pilot to wide-scale deployment.