In the trenches: Drive produce sales with leading-edge items
Are your produce sales vs. a year ago kind of flat? If so, then it may be time to take a good wise look at where your operation has been for the past five years and where it now needs to start heading. After doing that, plan on how you will start turning those flat sales around.
Brendan Keating joins Bozzuto's Inc.
BRENDAN KEATING joined wholesale grocer Bozzuto’s Inc. April 7 as a perishables account manager. He replaces Kenny Brickel, who has joined Nicholas Markets in Colonia, NJ, as store manager.
Keating, a resident of Bergen County, NJ, has many years of experience in the fresh produce industry, including five-and-a-half years at ShopRite Stores Inc. and 24 years at Kings Super Markets (now Kings Food Markets). Keating, 46, will concentrate on the mid-Atlantic territory for Bozzuto’s, which is headquartered in Cheshire, CT.
Onion harvest in state’s Imperial Valley expected to start late April
With favorable weather during the growing season, onion growers in California’s Imperial Valley are expecting good yields, good size and good quality this year. Anticipating start dates for harvest in truckload volumes range from April 21 to May 1, although some early harvesting had already begun as of the second week of April.
“As you drive through the valley right now, you can really smell the onions,” said Kay Pricola, executive director of the Imperial Valley Vegetable Growers Association, April 11. “It smells wonderful.”
L&M grows red, yellow and white onions in California’s Imperial Valley
L&M Cos. Inc., which is based in Raleigh, NC, and has offices in eight other locations around the country, is a diversified grower, shipper, broker, distributor, importer and exporter of produce, offering a wide assortment of products.
Onions are an important component in the mix, and the company grows onions in various locations throughout the United States, including California’s Imperial Valley, giving L&M’s customers year-round availability.
Great Big Idaho Potato Truck hits the road with health message for women
The head-turning, jaw-dropping Great Big Idaho Potato Truck is back on the road for its third consecutive cross-country tour with a new message for women: Take care of your heart.
The five-month 2014 Big Idaho Potato Truck Tour kicked off in Boise, ID, with waves, cheers and hugs from the students of Riverside Elementary School and salutes from soldiers at the Air Force Base in Mountain Home.
PrimusLabs announces latest trainings
PrimusLabs announced that it has opened registration for its latest trainings on the newly benchmarked PrimusGFS Version 2.1 audit scheme. Currently, two sets of trainings are planned.
The first training will be held in Salinas, CA, at the Salinas Elks Lodge. The dates for the Salinas trainings are as follows: April 28-29: HACCP; April 30-May 2: PrimusGFS Version 2.1; and May 3: PrimusGFS Auditor Training.
Braga Fresh expands organic offerings with new sleeved celery and celery hearts
Braga Fresh, based in Salinas, CA, is now offering sleeved celery and celery hearts under its sustainable produce brand, "Josie's Organics."
Dole doubling the love during 2014 tour
Building on the success of last year's Peel the Love tour, when 107,703 recipe samples made from Dole bananas were handed out at 147 tour stops at supermarkets, special events and other local venues, Dole is doubling its efforts this summer with two tours.
USDA to test adding canned, frozen produce in federal school snack program
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is moving ahead with a new pilot program to test the impact of opening up the popular school fruit and vegetable program to canned, frozen or dried fruits and vegetables.
Chinese garlic scrutiny by U.S. Customs applauded, but system still flawed says shipper
In December, the U.S. Customs & Border Protection successfully investigated a Chinese garlic dumping case, and ultimately stopped Jinxiang Hejia Co. from shipping the product into the United States.
Through its investigative work, Customs discovered that the firm was not just shipping its own garlic into the United States but that other Chinese producers who did not have duty-free or reduced-duty status and were illegally using the same packing codes for their garlic.