SPC News: A look ahead to a new event this June
The Southeast Produce Council recently announced a brand new event that will take place in mid-June. All of us at the council are very excited about this, and now that many of the details have been finalized, I can tell you a little about it.
However, first things first.
Vantage Point: Thank you again to the Eastern Produce Council
Over 300 people gathered Saturday evening, April 5, for the Eastern Produce Council’s 46th annual dinner dance, held at the Westmount Country Club in Woodland Park, NJ, the site of so many of these enjoyable events.
Gourmet Trading’s Calif. blues start early
Gourmet Trading Co. is preparing for an early start of its California blueberry season and began packing in mid-April.
Larger California blueberry volume will translate to increased promotions for Gourmet Trading Co. and its customer base. Marketing Manager Chloé Varennes said the company markets blues throughout North America as well as Europe, Asia and Australia.
Meissner named senior vice president of sales and marketing at Amerifresh
Tim Meissner has been named senior vice president of sales and marketing for Amerifresh, a leading produce marketer to the retail grocery and foodservice industries, based in Scottsdale, AZ. He is responsible for Amerifresh's retail, foodservice and international sales and marketing efforts.
Most recently, Meissner served as supply chain officer and chief operating officer at Southern Specialties in Pompano Beach, FL.
Vision appoints operations chief at Phoenix branch
Vision Produce Co. in Los Angeles has named Allan Acosta vice president of operations at its Phoenix branch. Acosta, who has more than 14 years of procurement and production experience in produce, will partner with John Caldwell, Vision Produce Co.'s vice president of sales and procurement.
Most recently, Acosta was senior crop manager-tropical fruits for Ready Pac Produce. Prior to that, he held increasingly responsible positions with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Central American Produce Inc.
California Cherry Board promotional activities focus on export markets
The California Cherry Board, which is administered by Ag Association Management Services Inc. in Sacramento, CA, has “a very focused effort” on specific areas of concern to the industry, according to Chris Zanobini, president and chief executive officer of AAMS.
“Our primary areas of activities are research, export developments and market trade policy, industry statistics, and any issues that might [affect] the industry,” Zanobini told The Produce News April 8. “We don’t do any domestic marketing and promotions.”
Divine Flavor expands grape varietal offerings
The 2014 Mexican grape crop being offered this spring by Divine Flavor, LLC, “looks very good on all varieties,” said Pedro Batiz, one of the firm’s owners.
Speaking by telephone from the firm’s San Diego office, Batiz said conventional grape shipping for Divine Flavor would begin in the first week of May. Organic grape harvest will come about 10 days later. The firm grows a wide variety of green, red and black grape varieties. This year the company will market 2.3 million boxes of its own grapes and will export another 200,000 boxes produced by independent growers.
Annual Sonora Spring Summit set for April 24-25 in Hermosillo
The annual Sonora Spring Summit, hosted by the Association Agricola Local de Productores Uva de Mesa, the local association of table grape growers in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, commonly known by its Spanish acronym, AALPUM, is scheduled to be held in Hermosillo April 24-25.
The two-day event is open to producers, distributors, buyers and anyone else in the industry interested in attending. As usual, it will consist of a tour of grape vineyards on one day and meetings on the following day.
Rivermaid installs new defect grader for cherries
Rivermaid Trading Co., a Lodi, CA,-based cherry and pear packer, has installed a GP Graders AirJet Defect Grader in its Lodi facility. The 40-lane cherry line is the largest ever installed by GP Graders.
Patrick Archibeque, chief executive officer of Rivermaid, and his team traveled extensively last year to evaluate all the cherry grading machines and software on the market and found the GP Graders AirJet Defect Grader with Ellips software to be the most impressive.
HAB survey reveals need to educate consumers about dietary fats
Despite years of effort by numerous organizations to help the public understand the pros and cons of consuming different types of dietary fats, a new survey by the Hass Avocado Board reveals that most Americans are still unclear about the definition and role of "good" and "bad" fats.
In the HAB survey of more than 1,000 adults, nearly half (42 percent) of people incorrectly thought that all fats play a role in increased cholesterol levels, and if the "don't know/unsure" responses are included, the number increases to 51 percent of people.