Meijer investing nearly $50 million in Dayton supercenters
In an effort to further enhance its customer shopping experience, Meijer will invest nearly $50 million in extensive remodel projects for four supercenters located in Ohio.
Van Solkema family divides responsibility and creates new firm
Surrounded by the four children, in-laws and grandchildren are Jerry and Sheryl Van Solkema.
Mexican figs approved for U.S. market
After a multi-year effort, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service has authorized the importation of Mexican figs into the United States, effective March 30, 2015, from areas that are not fruit-fly free. The figs must follow a protocol, including irradiation.
Allegiance announces two new field merchandisers
Allegiance Retail Services LLC has announced the addition of two new field merchandisers to its team: Angel Perez and Brendan Keating.
The new sweet onion is pink
North American consumers will have a chance to color up their plates in 2015 with pink onions. Joanne Steele, president of Tomato Specialists Inc., said this is the first full season the company will make the onion available to its customers.
“Pink onions are a breed,” she told The Produce News. “We started sourcing [from England] last year.”
Tomato Specialists is headquartered in Lehigh Acres, FL, and is celebrating its 27th anniversary this year.
Customized Brokers helps minimize delays and complications
It is vital that fresh imported fruit is managed through a streamlined process to minimize delays and complications, and to keep the produce at the peak of freshness. This is what Customized Brokers, headquartered in Miami, does every day, 24 hours a day, year-round.
Nelly Yunta, vice president, said that in the brokerage services arena, a streamlined process is one that is fast, effective and eliminates unnecessary steps to ensure that cargo is released as quickly as possible.
Calif. onion deal filled with uncertainty
California will start shipping some onions in early April from Mexico and begin with its own shipments from the Imperial Valley toward the latter part of the month. The early-season onions are expected to be in good supply, but when the harvest moves to the San Joaquin Valley, lack of rain and good water could play a major role in decreased supplies.
In and out like a lion: March wreaked havoc on northeastern produce companies
On the first day of spring, temperatures hovered in the low 30s in New York and were even lower in surrounding states, as the entire region was hammered once again by a snow storm. It fell on the heels of numerous other snowfalls that, since January, dumped dozens of inches of snow in the Northeast.
Despite the March 20 storm, those in the produce industry greeted spring with positive thoughts of warm weather to come.
Wegmans, Publix and Trader Joe’s continue to dominate supermarket ratings
In Consumer Reports’ new supermarket survey, Wegmans, Publix and Trader Joe’s remain at the top of the ratings of 68 of stores nationwide. Also earning high overall satisfaction scores were Fareway Stores, Market Basket (Northeast), Costco and Raley’s. Once again Walmart Supercenter landed at the bottom, along with A&P and Waldbaums, two smaller regional chains.
Vision adding shadehouse cucumber program
The Vision Cos. are adding another item to their extensive list of grower-direct deals with an exclusive shadehouse cucumber program starting mid-April in Caborca, Mexico.