AMS calls for eligible vendors to supply new school pilot program
WASHINGTON — The Agricultural Marketing Service is looking for vendors for a new pilot program to be launched in January that will test buying fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables with entitlement dollars for schools in eight states, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said last week.
Augie Consalo, N.J. produce veteran, dies at 81
Augustus (Augie) Consalo of Vineland, NJ, died Aug. 21 at Kennedy Stratford Hospital. He was 81.
Mr. Consalo was former vice president of William Consalo & Sons Farms Inc. and past president of W.C.S. Trucking Inc. He was a member and former two-term president of the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association for the state of New Jersey and a member of the Produce Marketing Association.
Citrus greening spreads to new areas of Texas
The Texas citrus industry is currently combating the destructive disease known as citrus greening, as the disease has taken a stronghold in both commercial and residential citrus plants in the Rio Grande Valley. Hidalgo, Cameron and Harris counties are under quarantine for citrus greening, which is primarily a disease of the tree but it can also have a devastating effect on the crop itself. The fruit from infected trees poses no risk to human health.
Stellar Distributing exec details short season
California's devastating drought plus higher than normal summer temperatures is shrinking the window for profitable produce sales in August and September, according to Kurt Cappelluti, partner in Stellar Distributing in Madera, CA, one of the Central Valley's major distributors of fresh kiwis, figs, pomegranates, persimmons and apricots. But steps can be taken to ensure volume and profitability.
Instacart raises bar on home delivery
Like many new companies in this era of technology, the needs of the owners led to the launching of Instacart, an online grocery shopping and delivery service.
“It was a problem that we personally had that we wanted to solve,” said Max Mullen, a co-owner of Instacart. “We wanted to get high-quality groceries and have them delivered quickly, and nobody was doing that.”
Pomegranates are big fall item for Simonian Fruit Co.
Through spring and early summer, Simonian Fruit Co. keeps busy with an assortment of stone fruit, and from early July on into fall, the company also ships table grapes, including specialty Champagne grapes in red and green varieties.
But Simonian Fruit’s big fall item is pomegranates, according to Jeff Simonian, vice president of sales.
The company’s pomegranate season this year was expected to start around the first of September. Like most California crops, that is “a little earlier this year” than normal, he said. “Probably a week to two weeks earlier.”
Sundale Vineyards has increases in its three major fall grape varieties
The California fresh grape season “has been good” so far, said Sean Stockton, president of Sundale Sales, the marketing arm of Sundale Vineyards in Tulare, CA, in an interview with The Produce News Aug. 4. “Season-to-date movement has been good. Prices have been excellent. We have had a good start to a little bit earlier season.”
But the bulk of the season lay ahead. “We are going to come into some of our peak varieties here, from mid-August all the way into October,” Stockton said.
Former Fowler & Huntting owner dies at 71
William (Bill) Yandow, a former owner and executive of Fowler & Huntting in Hartford, CT, died May 25 at his home in Florida. He was 71 years old.
'VegDeLite' moving to six-ounce packaging
This summer Miami-based Growers Are Us is rolling out a new six-ounce package of its “VegDeLite”-brand single-serving vegetables.
Riveridge continues 2013 automated vacuum harvester test
This fall Riveridge Produce Marketing, Inc., based in Sparta, MI, will continue a successful vacuum apple harvester test launched in the 2103 season.
An Aug. 21 company press release indicated that the pilot test last season ran for six-weeks. This showed “significant promise in several areas… and the company has plans to expand its use of the equipment again this fall.”