Mastronardi Produce is igniting the pepper category again with a hot new flavor set to hit store shelves in early 2021. Yowzers!, a red chili pepper that is tipping the SUNSET scales on heat, joins the lineup of unique and flavorful SUNSET pepper products including Shazam! shishito pepper and Kaboom! black jalapenos.

Three years after introducing Simbe Robotics’ autonomous robot Tally to select stores to enhance inventory management, Schnuck Markets Inc.  is launching the technology in an additional 46 stores, leveraging Tally’s real-time data to improve the shopping experiences in 62 locations.

Re Fresh, launched in August by produce industry veterans Doug Fisher and Joe Cimino to reimagine the produce procurement experience, has expanded its team by hiring seven accomplished produce industry professionals.

"Re Fresh was founded with a philosophy to focus on customer service, relationship building and a deep understanding of our customers’ needs. This is accomplished by assembling the right people augmented by technology to carry out our vision," said Cimino. "With these hires, everything is in place to fulfill these goals."

Stemilt and its local healthcare provider, Confluence Health, are celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Stemilt Family Clinic. Stemilt partners with Confluence Health to offer Stemilt employees, their spouses, and dependents an on-site, a no cost healthcare clinic for all primary care needs and pharmacy services. Stemilt President West Mathison sees the five-year mark as a significant milestone for the company and a great resource for Stemilt employees.

Charlie’s Produce, an employee-owned, independent produce company serving the West Coast since 1978, has acquired Muir Copper Canyon Farms, a leading fresh produce and food products distributor based in Salt Lake City. Charlie’s Produce will integrate systems with Muir to enlarge sourcing options, pricing systems, invoicing and online sales for customers. This acquisition extends Charlie’s Produce’s network of seven distribution centers throughout the West.

On Thursday, Oct. 1, Oxnard, CA-based Mission Produce Inc. began its journey as a public company with the initial public offering  of 8 million share of its common stock on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol AVO. The IPO opened at $12 and closed on its first day at $13.80, an initial one-day gain of 15 percent.