Tasty apple varieties remain Belleharvest focus
Belleharvest Sales, Inc., headquartered in Belding, MI, is continuing to develop its apple program toward the high-flavor varieties that are increasingly in consumer demand, according to Chris Sandwick, Belleharvest’s vice president of sales and marketing. Varieties headlining this effort are Honeycrisp, Fuji, Gala and Topaz.
The Topaz is an heirloom red, round apple, which has some russeting, he said. “It sizes up nicely and fits the profile for retail,” he noted.
NAPMM to convene in Michigan in October
The National Association of Produce Market Managers will hold a regional retail meeting at the Downtown Market in Grand Rapids, MI, Oct. 23-25.
Kropf: Labor a consideration in announcing crop figures
Crop estimates for Michigan’s apple production need to come with an asterisk, suggested Roger Kropf, owner of Core Farms LLC, located in Hartford, MI.
There can be estimates for total production. But the real question is, how much fruit will be harvested if Michigan has a labor shortage, as occurred in 2013?
Even if fruit is eventually harvested in November, as mostly occurred last year, the quality of late-harvested fruit is below that of a timely harvest, Kropf said.
PMA Foundation’s High Performance Management Conference offers solution for employee development
The Produce Marketing Association Foundation for Industry Talent’s mission is to attract, develop and retain talent. The High Performance Management Conference is one of several programs in the “develop” portion, providing professional development opportunities for employees in produce and floral companies worldwide.
Christopher Ranch garlic gets home-field advantage with 49ers
Christopher Ranch will be a part of the new Levi’s stadium for the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers. The company's garlic will be featured in the garlic fries, aioli sauce and the Kale salad.
Christopher Ranch supplies Centerplate — the food and beverage company for Levi’s Stadium — with two kinds of garlic: freshly peeled garlic cloves and roasted garlic cloves.
Giorgio Fresh finding great early success with new stuffed Baby Bella mushrooms
“We recently added stuffed Baby Bellas with three different stuffings,” said Bill Litvin, senior vice president of sales for Giorgio Fresh, headquartered in Blandon, PA. “They are cheese and imitation bacon, imitation crab, and artichoke and spinach. This new line is currently available in retail packaging, and the foodservice packaging was launched at the PMA Foodservice Conference & Expo in July.”
Litvin added that the new stuffed Baby Bellas definitely spice up the company’s product line. And the different stuffings are sure to satisfy every consumer palate.
Mushroom industry helping to feed school kids in healthy, nutritious ways
Innovative school meal solutions — like mushroom meatballs — were “served up” on Wednesday, July 23 as the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry examined the challenge of feeding America’s school children.
A press release from the American Mushroom Institute in Washington, DC, dated July 24 stated that the hearing featured testimony from school foodservice directors from Mississippi, Michigan and Kentucky as Congress debates the current nutrition guidelines and begins preparation for the reauthorization of school nutrition programs in 2015.
Robert Prystash named Ready Pac's VP of continuous improvement
Irwindale, CA-based Ready Pac announced Robert Prystash as its new vice president of continuous improvement.
In his new position, Prystash will lead transformation initiatives and continue to progress Ready Pac’s culture of continuous improvement. He will report directly to Peter Laport, chief supply chain officer at Ready Pac.
CAC looks to boost consumption of California avocados with breakfast promotion
The California Avocado Commission has extended its program promoting the use of California avocados at breakfast with retail support materials, public relations outreach featuring registered dietitians spokespersons and digital media.
Participating retailers distributed a recipe booklet titled Wake up to Breakfast, featuring simple, produce-rich recipes and nutrition information. In addition to being merchandised with California avocado display bins, supermarket registered dietitians have utilized the booklets in their in-store education programs, demos and cooking classes.
California legislators put re-worked water bond on November ballot
After literally years of discussions, and with a deadline only hours away, California lawmakers forged a compromise the night of Aug. 13 to put a more than $7 billion water bond on the November ballot.
The compromise was reached just hours before the midnight deadline imposed to grant sufficient time for ballots to be printed and mailed prior to the election.