“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” and a 20 million-box season begins with box one. Crossing of Early Sweets, Perlettes and other early green varieties has begun at Nogales and are immediately being absorbed into the market. Flames and a dozen other varieties of all colors will follow shortly.

Retailer and general registration for Organic Produce Summit 2021 is now open for the live and in-person event being held Sept. 15-16 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Monterey, CA.

Whole Foods Market has nearly 40 new stores in the pipeline and saw online sales triple between March and December 2020 as compared to the same timeframe in 2019. In 2020 the company created more than 10,000 new jobs, and it is actively hiring, with about 10,000 open positions currently posted companywide. But at this time of growth the company is also consolidating in some areas.

With spring firmly settling in with longer, warmer days on the horizon, greenhouse vegetable grower Pure Flavor has released the second edition of its successful Live Deliciously eMagazine. The new release is a celebration of spring, packed with interesting articles on greenhouse vegetable growing and product reviews to delicious recipes for consumer and trade audiences alike.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has imposed sanctions on two produce businesses for failing to meet contractual obligations to the sellers of produce they purchased and failing to pay reparation awards issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. These sanctions include suspending the businesses’ PACA licenses and barring the principal operators of the businesses from engaging in PACA-licensed business or other activities without approval from USDA.

The following businesses and individuals are currently restricted from operating in the produce industry:

The Produce Marketing Association hired Iván Correa to serve as the country representative in Chile.  Correa will serve as a resource and in-country support for PMA members and the industry providing relevant PMA resources and information and sharing Chilean insights and successes to the global audience. Correa’s primary role will focus on being an expert and point of contact for industry members in Chile, and facilitating critical business connections in the produce and floral industries.