Florida orange crop estimate drops
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said its estimate of the 2014-15 Florida orange crop decreased 5.6 million boxes to 96.4 million. During the 2013-14 season, Florida produced 104 million boxes of oranges.
Early-mid varieties increased slightly to 47.4 million boxes while Valencia oranges dipped 6 million boxes to 49 million.
FirstFruits donates over 330,000 pounds of apples to local food banks
FirstFruits Marketing of Washington ends its fifth annual Take a Bite Out of Hunger program at select retailers with a collective donation of 330,000 pounds of apples to local food banks. This brings the total program donation to approximately 1.25 million pounds over five seasons.
Dave Phillips joins RPE Inc.
RPE Inc., based in Bancroft, WI, announced the addition of Dave Phillips to its sales team as the director of foodservice sales, effective May 4.
Phillips will be based in RPE’s Blackfoot, ID, office and will be responsible for overseeing the foodservice sales division of the company, as well as serving as the sales manager for both of RPE-Idaho’s offices, and expanding RPE’s relationships with Idaho potato growers. Phillips will report to vice president of sales, Ross Verner.
Flavor 1st doubling packaging capacity with latest technology
Flavor 1st can track the produce that customers receive down to the farm, what field it came from, the date it was picked along with any and all maintenance for that field, and now they can also package twice as fast as they had before.
The company added 40,000 square feet to its building in Mills River, NC, and also installed a brand new Aweta line.
“It has a camera system that sorts by color and by size, and it allows us to mechanize our packingline a lot better to make sure our packs are more consistent,” said Mike Porter, who works in sales at Flavor 1st.
John Vena expands staff considerably at PWPM
John Vena, president of John Vena Inc., located at the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, told The Produce News that the company has had a significant increase in its staff in the last 12 months.
“We have expanded our staff by close to 20 percent,” said Vena. “Most jobs we added were at entry level, but two new members of our team are in newly created roles.
“James Collins joined us last summer as our packing room manager,” Vena continued. “His background is in bakery production, and he has brought a lot of experience to our team.”
Enriquez Farms shipping Walla Walla Sweets starting in mid-June
Familiar names in the Walla Walla Sweets onion deal are again providing retail and wholesale markets with the famed sweet onion this season, with mature onions starting mid-June and running into August.
Safeway closing nine Denver-area stores
Safeway announced it will close nine stores in the Denver area on June 13. According to Kristine Staaf, director of public affairs and government relations, the stores had not been profitable for quite time.
RedLine Solutions Traceability For Dummies webinar series: How to buy a traceability system
RedLine Solutions, a leader in produce traceability and inventory solutions, will host the fifth in its Traceability For Dummies webinar series — titled Produce Traceability For Dummies Part 5: How to Buy a Traceability System — on May 27 at 2 p.m. EST. This webinar will focus on what to look for when purchasing an automated traceability system.
Stanley Farms pledges ‘100 percent transparency’ in ongoing Vidalia onion investigation
Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black will meet again with the Vidalia advisory panel and onion growers later this week to share the results of his investigation into recent possible irregularities at Stanley Farms in Vidalia, GA. Meanwhile, Brian Stanley, the company sales manager, pledged “100 percent transparency” in the company’s efforts to clear the air.
Sbrocco to join eat brighter! movement with apples and pears
Sbrocco International Inc. announced its participation in the eat brighter! movement. Sbrocco will feature "Sesame Street" characters, including Elmo and Oscar, on its apple and pear bags beginning this month.