Organic apples and pears had the strongest monthly growth Superfresh Growers has recently seen. Both categories were up nearly 30 percent in the month of August. Organic apples were up 30 percent in dollars, while organic pears were up 29 percent in volume. Since COVID-19, organic dollars have been climbing, and this is the third month in a row where apple growth has been up more than 19 percent.

Recent years have been good for the produce packaging company Sev-Rend.

Jeff Watkin, the St. Louis-based company’s director of marketing, and Art Vega, vice president of sales and marketing, recently spoke with The Produce News about the company’s position and outlook for the future.

It is a little-known fact that Mastronardi Produce, the company behind one of the world’s first branded tomatoes, actually has its roots in lettuce. In the 1940s, when Armando Mastronardi bought a farm after his arrival in Canada, his first crop was not tomatoes — it was lettuce. Now the company is returning to its roots and launching a new lettuce brand, Queen of Greens.

The recent launch of new grape varietal logos by International Fruit Genetics has helped the Bakersfield, CA-based breeder improve clarity in a category where differing names for the same fruit often persist. “It’s a prescriptive approach,” explained Andy Higgins, CEO of IFG. “Let’s clean it up to help all involved understand what we're offering, and consumers know what they’re buying.” The program is intended to provide value for all involved, with IFG providing graphic files and logo use guidelines, and placing it in the hands of growers and marketers to bring them forward.

With consumers cooking at home more than ever, Progressive Produce is looking forward to working with its partners throughout the supply chain to bring fresh, nutritious asparagus to dinner tables around the country.

The Wonderful Company, a global company dedicated to harvesting health and happiness around the world through its iconic consumer brands, announced the launch of the Wonderful Innovation Challenge. Offering up to $1 million in funding and development resources to innovators, the competition seeks to discover economic and environmentally friendly pilot ready solutions for the 50,000 tons of pomegranate husks generated each year by juicing POM Wonderful pomegranates.