General Produce founder Hiram Folds dies
Hiram Folds, founder of Atlanta-based produce distributor General Produce Inc., died Jan. 5 of undisclosed causes. He was 84.
Mr. Folds came up in hard times in Depression-era Milstead, GA. He lost his father at an early age and went to work part time on the Atlanta State Farmers Market, loading trucks and cutting bananas for the Georgia-Tennessee Produce Co. at 50 cents an hour.
Chefs to earn top honors for produce excellence at United Fresh 2014
United Fresh has opened the nomination period for the 2014 Produce Excellence in Foodservice Awards program, which honors the foodservice industry’s most innovative produce performers.
The program, sponsored by PRO*ACT LLC since its launch in 2008, has honored more than 30 different chefs and foodservice operators for their exceptional work in incorporating fresh produce in menu development, proper food safety and handling, engaging in community outreach and building an overall positive dining experience with fresh produce as a centerpiece.
WhiteWave completes acquisition of Earthbound Farm
The WhiteWave Foods Co., a leading consumer packaged food and beverage company in North America and Europe, completed its previously announced acquisition of Earthbound Farm for approximately $600 million in cash.
Gourmet Trading Co.'s L.A. headquarters moves into new facility
Gourmet Trading Co., a distributor of fresh asparagus and blueberries, is moving its Los Angeles headquarters and warehouse to a newly renovated 53,000-square-foot facility located in Redondo Beach, CA.
The company looks forward to continuing to provide its customers with high-quality fresh green, white and purple asparagus, and blueberries from the new location with expanded loading capacity, advanced precooling infrastructure and the addition of clean rooms for future value-added programs.
New facility will accommodate larger apple crops for CMI
The new facility being constructed by Columbia Marketing International and McDougall & Sons in Baker Flats, WA, is close to completion.
“We are now using the facility as a cross-dock location and will be working through the winter to complete the inside,” said Steve Lutz, vice president of marketing. “When completed, this will be an $8 million storage and loading facility that will allow CMI to be ready for harvests that continue to be of record-breaking size.”
California Sweet Potato Council launches new marketing campaign
The California Sweet Potato Council has teamed up with Ketchum, a leading public relations firm in San Francisco, to launch a new marketing campaign that includes a fresh new logo and website in an effort to represent the California difference.
In addition, the campaign seeks to boost consumer outreach through social media and food bloggers.
National reception of Michigan apples is ‘wonderful’
The reception of the national retail and wholesale trade to the 2013 Michigan apple crop has been “wonderful,” in the view of Christopher Sandwick, vice president of sales and marketing, for Belleharvest Sales, Inc., which is located in Belding, MI.
Belleharvest has enjoyed steady movement this season, Sandwick recently said.
The company expected to finish shipping its Honeycrisp crop in late December “and we’re happy with the movement of all other varieties.”
California drought continues with no relief in sight
As the Northeast got hit with a paralyzing snow storm just a day after the calendar turned to 2014, the first California snow survey of the year revealed what everyone already knew: the state is suffering one of its worst droughts in history -- and there is no rain in the forecast.
While researchers were in the field physically putting instruments in the snow on Jan. 3 to gauge depth and water content, electronic data had already revealed the water content statewide to be 20 percent of normal.
Whole Foods Market commits $25 million to local growers, producers and food artisans
Whole Foods Market announced Jan. 2 that its Local Producer Loan Program has reached the initial goal of funding $10 million in low-interest loans to local and independent food businesses, and has now committed up to $25 million in funding. The Local Producer Loan Program has provided 184 loans to 155 companies since its inception in 2007.
New year ushers in changes at Colorful Harvest
Colorful Harvest, a Salinas, CA-based grower and marketer of heirloom style vegetables and strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries, announced several personnel changes coinciding with the start of 2014.
Doug Ranno, a founding member and chief operating officer, has left the company to pursue other opportunities, according to a Jan. 2 press release issued by Colorful Harvest.