JGE serving Nogales with food-safety software
A food-safety software company, JGE Innovative Software, is operating from Rio Rico, AZ.
The company founder, James Ecker, was first associated with the Nogales produce industry in 2000 and has owned a tech-service firm serving this business since 2005.
With his early customers, Ecker saw the binders of records on food-safety maintenance and procedures.
Healthy Trends enters bagged Bell peppers
“Our season started in earnest on Dec. 1, and carries through mid-May,” said Bobby Astengo, a partner in Healthy Trends.
Beyond Healthy Trends’ increase in production and extended product list this winter, “we are also delving into value-added packaging,” Astengo said. Bagged bell peppers are this featured item.
This is the second full shipping season for Healthy Trends to be in business. “We worked diligently in our first season to get to this point,” he said. Now all of the ranches producing for Healthy Trends are Primus GFS certified.
Agri Packing Supply, Inc. celebrates 25th anniversary
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of Agri Packing Supply, Inc., the dynamic firm continues its growth path. The company was founded by Omar Cabrera, a humble gentleman who remains very active in the firm. Agri Packing started business on July 25, 1990.
Agri Packing Supply handles all packing materials, including pouch bags, clam shells and cartons, plus agricultural supplies serving a range of products from the open field to greenhouses. The firm is not involved in agrichemicals.
Rene Produce celebrates golden anniversary
Rene Produce LLC is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The firm was created in 1965 by Rene Carrillo.
Rene involves just one grower and has one distribution center in Nogales, said Jose Humberto Garcia, Rene’s chief operating officer. “We don’t franchise our name,” he said. “We are very proud of what we do and we want to maintain it that way. We are probably the last guys in Nogales to do it that way. When we have something that needs to be addressed, it is addressed quickly.”
Aspen sees brisk spud movement, good holiday rush
Citing all the necessary factors for a good spud shipping season, Jed Ellithorpe, operations manager for Aspen Produce in Center, CO, said the 2015 crop size profile is good for all market segments, and he added, “We’re very excited about how good the potatoes look coming out of storage.”
The third-generation farmer said much of the crop’s success can be attributed to the seed, noting, “If you’re going to have a good crop, you have to start off with good seed.”
Kay Riley: Market slowed but optimism still high
Ten days before Thanksgiving, Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee veteran Kay Riley said the 2015-16 onion market had seen a slowdown from its early, strong start, but Riley, general manager of Snake River Produce in Nyssa, OR, also said the Treasure Valley is still optimistic overall.
Bland Farms Vidalia Brands sweet potatoes fit right in with their famous sweet onion cousins
Over a year in, what began as an experimental foray into sweet potatoes for Vidalia onion giant Bland Farms LLC has evolved into a rousing success.
For decades, the Glennville, GA-based company has been known for its famous sweet onions, and Vidalia has been the king of the crop. But with demand for sweet potatoes ever-increasing, the company decided over a year ago that consumers were ready for another sweet Vidalia treat that’s a perfect complement to a year-round sweet onion program.
Associated Potato outlasting the season’s challenges
“We’re taking it one day at a time,” Paul Dolan of Associated Potato Growers Inc. said of the Red River Valley potato business. Another day might see improvement over mid-November challenges facing Associated and its competitors.
Kreis optimistic for red potato market improvement
This fall there have been some challenges for red potato shippers in the Red River Valley, but Ted Kreis, marketing director of the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association, foresees improvements in the marketing situation.
On Nov. 12, he said routine competition with Wisconsin growers was keener than usual because of large production in both states. Wisconsin hasn’t adequate storage facilities to move its crop out of the field, so there was a lot of pressure at harvest time to get freshly dug potatoes to market.