Western Growers and S2G Ventures are now accepting applications for the 2022 AgSharks Competition, a unique event where startup companies pitch their innovations in front of a live audience of the world’s largest specialty crop producers to win a $250,000 minimum investment.

In addition to the return to school and busier family schedules for everyone, fall can mean a return to the day-to-day challenges of healthy meal planning.

In response, Dole Food Co. Inc. created 15-Minute-Made Meals, a collection of the produce leader’s often-requested recipes that combine fresh fruit- and vegetable-based ingredients with prep times of 15 minutes or less to deliver easy, healthy and satiating options for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the availability of nearly $8 million to support the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program Produce Prescription Program. The funding is part of USDA’s American Rescue Plan efforts and will be administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

GusNIP Produce Prescription projects provide financial and non-financial incentives to income-eligible individuals and families to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables to improve dietary health through increased consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Crystal Valley Foods welcomed Philip Rodriguez back to its team. Rodriguez began his career in produce with Crystal Valley Foods in 2017 as a sales and procurement liaison and has rejoined the company as business development manager.

The Fresh Market and shoppable video platform Firework marked a milestone in their ongoing partnership, which brings next-generation customer experiences to the online grocery shopping space. Earlier this quarter, The Fresh Market surpassed 365 days of total watch time for its Firework-enabled video content —  including all short-form, shoppable video and live commerce content across the company's owned media channels.

Calavo Growers Inc. named Helen Kurtz as its senior vice president and general manager of Calavo Prepared, the company’s prepared foods segment.