Retail View: Push to up the fresh game at convenience stores continues
Walk into your local conveniences store and look for yogurt. If the store is selling that product, it almost certainly has the capacity, traffic, demographics and trained personnel to sell fresh produce.
And if industry experts are right, convenience stores soon will be another outlet for fresh produce sales, which are almost certainly additional sales as opposed to cannibalizing from some other sales venue.
Stemilt California cherry crop to be heavy early
Stemilt Growers LLC, a longtime grower-shipper headquartered in Wenatchee, WA, whose roots can be traced to the early 1900s, has had a California cherry deal since the beginning of this century.
Grower Direct sees cherry changes on the horizon
An early crop with legs portends an excellent California cherry season this year, but buyers might not want to get too comfortable with that scenario.
The California cherry industry has changed tremendously in the last 20 years, according to Jim Hanson of Grower Direct Marketing LLC, in Stockton, CA. “In 1995, California cherries were grown in a 30-mile radius around the Linden, Livingston, Stockton area,” he said speaking of some cities in the northern quadrant of the San Joaquin Valley. “Today they are grown in a 300-mile radius.”
Potandon Produce announces start date for Az. new-crop potatoes
Potandon Produce LLC, the exclusive marketing agent for Pinto Creek Co. LLC in Eloy, AZ, announced that its fresh potato season will begin May 9.
Retail veteran joins Weis Markets as regional VP
Wendy Oliver has joined Weis Markets as a regional vice president. She will oversee the day-to-day operations of 58 stores in central and southeastern Pennsylvania. She reports to David Gose, senior vice president of operations.
US Foods acquires Chicago-based Food Genius
US Foods has acquired Food Genius, a leading provider of foodservice data and analytics. The Food Genius team members will join US Foods.
Focused exclusively on foodservice, Food Genius offers a suite of technology applications that simplify the interactions needed to transform large-scale unstructured data into application-ready datasets and actionable insights.
California sweet corn hits the supermarket shelves
After much anticipation, California-grown sweet corn is now available to consumers state-wide. Harvest has commenced in the Imperial Valley region, and it’s shaping up to be a positive season. A few early shippers have been going for a few weeks now, with the majority of growers starting this week.
Laura Batcha and Tonya Antle added to Organic Produce Summit lineup
Laura Batcha, president of the Organic Trade Association, and Tonya Antle, a principal at Tanimura & Antle, have been added to the the featured presentation and keynote speakers portion of the inaugural Organic Produce Summit, in Monterey, CA, July 13-14. Batcha will deliver a state of the industry report on organic fresh produce, while Antle will serve as master of ceremonies for the event.
Sun Pacific highlights innovative offerings to Canadian customers
With an increase in volume of its various differentiated produce offerings, Pasadena, CA-based Sun Pacific has added Canadian retailers as a target group for its sales effort.