Bova Fresh off to a sweet start
Although Bova Fresh officially opened its doors for business in mid-April of 2015, the company has a strong vision about what it takes to build grower relationships and service customers at the highest level.
The company is headquartered in Boca Raton, FL, and is a grower-packer-shipper and broker, marketing a growing line of citrus, peaches, potatoes, onions, strawberries, watermelons and assorted vegetables.
CMI launches 2016 Kanzi apple season
Kanzi apples sell at a 35 percent price premium above the category average, presenting a great opportunity for retailers to increase consumer transaction size, according to Columbia Marketing International, the Wenatchee, WA-based grower-marketer of the variety.
Safeway, Sobeys lower produce prices
Sobeys Inc. announced today that Safeway and Sobeys stores in Alberta are on a mission to offer better produce at lower prices every day. The initiative is part of Sobeys’ commitment to help Canadians eat better, which was launched in 2013 with global better-food advocate and chef Jamie Oliver. Safeway has now also adopted this platform.
CDC: Chipotle outbreak over
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention declared the E. coli outbreak that sickened more than 50 Chipotle customers is over.
The declaration means that the investigation is now closed, according to the CDC. The probe was unable to identify the specific ingredient responsible for the contamination that required hospitalization of 20 of the 53 affected people in nine states. No deaths were attributed to the outbreak.
FPFC annual dinner dance draws large crowd
PASADENA, CA — More than 500 produce professionals packed the Langham Huntington Hotel, here, on Saturday, Jan. 30, for the annual Fresh Produce & Floral Council Dinner Dance. Dinner and dancing were the order of the day at the James Bond-themed extravaganza. Bill Coombs of DLJ Produce won the $20,000 raffle prize and then generously donated his winnings to the City of Hope.
PMA identifies marketing as strategic priority for next two years
The Produce Marketing Association board of directors met in Phoenix the last week of January, where the association’s Marketing Task Force recommended that PMA establish marketing as a strategic priority during the next two years.
Ripe & Ready to Eat mango program unlocks industry opportunities
The National Mango Board is promoting its Ripe & Ready to Eat mango program, with the objective to provide mangos with a marketing advantage and offer U.S. consumers a quality fruit that is ripe and ready to eat right away or within a few days.
Mann Packing adds to marketing department
Mann Packing has hired Loree Dowse, Jacob Shafer and Monica Infelise, who will join the Mann’s team as foodservice marketing assistant, marketing and communications coordinator, and content marketing specialist, respectively. They will be working from the Mann Packing corporate headquarters in Salinas, CA.
‘The New Schmieding’ and Cañon Potato LLC combine expertise for spud industry
The 2015 acquisition of H.C. Schmieding Produce Co. in Springdale, AR, and Cañon Potato LLC in Center, CO, by Palm Beach, FL-based Woerner Holdings Inc. brought together two well-established potato-shipping facilities and now provides year-round supplies from those operations.
Woerner Holdings, headed by father-son team Lester and Trent Woerner, created the umbrella “New Schmieding Produce,” and the upshot of the acquisition is increased availability of direct-from-growers potatoes as well as carrots, watermelons, pumpkins and other produce items.
Lone Star’s Bishop sees good season continuing for Texas citrus
A good market and strong demand has continued to be the norm for the 2015-16 Texas citrus crop.
“The season is going very well,” Trent Bishop, vice president of sales for Lone Star Citrus Growers in Mission, TX, told The Produce News Jan. 13. “We’ve had a very good season so for and it looks like we are going to have a great January.”