Fall is a busy time for Sunny Valley International as berries are front-and-center.  

“We are under way with our imported blueberry program now and are getting regular arrivals of organic and conventional fruit from Peru,” said Tom Beaver, director of sales and marketing for the Glassboro, NJ-based company. “So far, the quality and condition has been excellent. Fruit is arriving with the exceptional size, crunchiness, bloom and taste that retailers and their final consumers have come to expect from Peru.”

Top execs driving retail innovation — the winners of International Fresh Produce Association’s Retail Merchant Innovation Award — will be recognized at the Retail Awards Reception Oct. 17 at the Global Produce & Floral Show in Anaheim, CA.  
 

It may just be September, but the winter holidays will be here before you know it. Of course, the holiday season is full of magic — but for many families, it’s also full of chaos. Between office deadlines, school concerts and never-ending to-do lists, the modern consumer isn’t browsing content for inspiration; they’re searching for survival.

California date growers are entering the 2025 harvest season with optimism, even as this year’s crop looks to be slightly lighter than last year.

Red River Valley potato growers in North Dakota and Minnesota are seeing a contrast in growing seasons, with rain helping this season’s red and yellow potatoes, a departure from the dry summer last year in the valley.

 Carissa Olsen, president and CEO of Buxton, ND-based NoKota Packers, said the hot and dry harvest last year didn’t seem to affect yields or size, but there were some quality issues.

It was another record month for online grocery sales, which totaled $11.2 billion in August. This is a nearly 14 percent year-over-year increase according to the latest Brick Meets Click Grocery Shopper Survey, sponsored by Mercatus. The strong growth was driven by YOY gains in household penetration, order frequency and average order values.