The Canadian Produce Marketing Association announced 18 rising stars who will participate in the 2023 Passion for Produce program in Toronto. As an added value to membership, PFP was created by CPMA in 2010 to provide young professionals in the produce industry with the opportunity to accelerate their professional development through a unique mentoring experience at the CPMA’s Annual Convention & Trade Show.

Fresh Del Monte announced a collaboration with “Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight,” the television series created by DreamWorks Animation, now streaming on Netflix. Following the success of the Fresh Del Monte and DreamWorks series “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous” global promotion in 2021, the produce giant and animation studio join forces once again to promote “Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight.”

U.S. Customs & Border Protection officers at the Calexico East Cargo Facility intercepted over $1.5 million worth of cocaine concealed within a shipment of watermelons.

On March 15 CBP officers encountered the driver of a truck and trailer. The driver presented a valid border crossing card to the CBP officer along with manifest declaring watermelons. During the initial inspection, a CBP officer referred the driver along with the shipment to the dock for an intensive examination.

Kroger will deploy autonomous box trucks, looking to serve customers with increased delivery frequency, reliability and responsiveness. Under a collaboration with Gatik, its medium-duty autonomous box trucks will transport fresh, customer-favorite products from a Kroger Customer Fulfillment Center in Dallas to multiple retail locations. The operations will launch in Q2, 2023.

Gatik, a leader in autonomous middle mile logistics, announced the multi-year commercial collaboration to transport customer orders within Kroger’s Dallas distribution network.

The Eastern Produce Council announced the members of its 2023 Leadership Class. An unprecedented class of 26 up-and-coming produce professionals will benefit from a wide array of professional development opportunities related to the produce industry.

In a year when the U.S. apple crop volume is down nearly 10 percent versus the prior year, retailers can look forward to a fresh crop arriving from the Southern Hemisphere keeping consumers shopping the apple deck and providing fresh picked flavor and promotional volumes throughout the spring and summer.