The online grocery market finished January with $8.4 billion in total sales, down 1.2 percent compared to last year, according to the monthly Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey.

The drop in total online grocery sales was entirely driven by ship-to-home sales, which declined 15 percent to $1.3 billion. Pickup posted the strongest gains, increasing almost 3 percent on a year-over-year basis to $4.1 billion, while delivery grew less than 1 percent, holding steady around $3 billion.

Speaking at the AeroFarms Ag Tech Innovation Summit in Abu Dhabi, Controlled Environment Agriculture Alliance Executive Director Tom Stenzel urged global stakeholders to support increased investment and government collaboration to advance CEA production as a cornerstone of future sustainable agriculture.

It’s the month of February and that means table grapes from Chile are harvesting and being sent to markets across the globe. At the heart of Chile’s grape production is Santa Elena, a company that is not only a grower of Divine Flavor International but also a partner of the produce brand, which harvests grapes in Chile from December to March. Overseeing a vast majority of Santa Elena’s production is grape specialist and part owner, Gonzalo Tocornal.

Blair Chastain has been named chief revenue officer for Kwik Lok Corp. In this role, Chastain will focus on enhancing Kwik Lok’s global sales and marketing strategies.

“Blair’s experience developing strong sales strategies and empowering agile teams will be a strong asset as Kwik Lok continues to grow our business worldwide and make a difference in our communities,” said Don Carrell, Kwik Lok CEO.

The Texas International Produce Association is expanding their career networking program, Encouraging Discovery & Growth in Education.

EDGE is the next step of the original Aggies for Fresh program launched in 2017. The program is designed to offer students information, exposure and connections to help them identify career paths and hire-ready roles in the fresh produce industry.

By collectively working together, Food Lion’s customers, associates and Food Lion Feeds helped nourish neighbors in 2022 with more than 158 million meals, an increase of 6 million meals over 2021. Food Lion Feeds was founded in 2014 by Food Lion to address food insecurity in the towns and cities it serves.