Expansion and upgrades allow Strohauer Farms to begin year-round shipping
Expansion, upgrades and new equipment at its LaSalle, CO, packing facility has allowed Strohauer Farms to begin year-round shipping, according to company President and Owner Harry Strohauer.
“Our Colorado packing facility is going through significant changes this season with the additions of an optic sorter/sizer, new washing and drying equipment, increased cooler capacity and overall streamlining of our sorting and packing operation,” Strohauer said in late June.
Steinbeck Country Produce develops animated ad campaign
Steinbeck Country Produce announced the launch of a series of animated spots that highlight its “Nature’s Reward” brand. The spots will air strictly in the digital sphere in the form of banner ads and online videos. The creative focuses on the company’s line of premium-quality “Nature’s Reward” fresh vegetable and strawberries.
Mi Pueblo files Chapter 11
Mi Pueblo, which has 21 Northern California stores targeting Hispanic shoppers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection July 22, claiming it has financing issues with its main lender.
In a letter to its vendors, dated on the same day, Juvenal Chavez, founder and chief executive officer, said all stores would remain open as the supermarket chain reorganizes.
Growers Citrus Packing joins Sunkist
Growers Citrus Packing, a Terra Bella, CA-based grower-shipper of citrus, primarily Navel oranges, is joining Sunkist Growers Inc.
“We are pleased to be joining Sunkist, where we will benefit from their broad worldwide customer reach and marketing expertise," David Evans, chief executive officer of Growers Citrus Packing, said in a press release. "We look forward to a long and prosperous future together.”
Projected to pack 1.6 million cartons annually, Growers Citrus Packing will be part of the robust Sunkist packinghouse network.
Colombian trade pact is a winner for U.S., Colombian flower exporters say on first anniversary of agreement
In the first year after the signing of the U.S.-Colombian Free Trade Agreement, the head of the flower exporter group in Colombia contends the United States has come out on top. Augusto Solano, president of Asocolflores, the flower exporters group, told The Produce News, “The media in both countries has pronounced this particular free trade agreement as having been more beneficial for the United States than it has for Colombia.”
Monterey Bay greenhouses host tour
A crowd of about 1,200 area residents visited one or more of the six growers on the Monterey Bay Greenhouse Growers fourth annual open house tour June 15. Kathleen W McDonough, who organized the event, told The Produce News that more than $10,000 was raised from flower, plant, and refreshment sales for five local charities, including state parks and a cancer fund.
Prospects dim for Ecuador trade pact
Ecuador’s already dim chances for an extension of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, which expires July 31, slid from dim to completely dark in the past 30 days, a casualty of the controversy over U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden’s release of classified material on government surveillance. Cut roses imported from Ecuador into this country were to begin carrying a new 6.8 percent tax as of Aug. 1.
Russian flower show Aug. 28-31 expected to draw 20,000 visitors
The Expo Flora Russia show Aug. 28-31 in the All-Russian Exhibition Centre in Moscow is paired this year with the Flowers IPM show and the result-two trade fairs on the same dates in one building, covering floriculture, gardening and landscaping in one event-is expected to increase attendance for both shows.
Exhibit space sold out, 1,500 attend FPFC Southern California Expo in Anaheim
Highlights of the July 16 Southern California Expo, biggest event of the year for the Fresh Produce & Floral Council: Some 250 exhibitors, using all available space; a crowd of 1,500 from more than 100 companies, including many store sales staff and independent retailers; the 2013 Floral Achievement Award, won by Harrison Higaki of Bay City Flower Co. in Half Moon Bay, CA; a floral design contest and a keynote address by Joe Theismann, former star quarterback in the National Football League.
Proflora to feature exhibits, farm tours, breeder and grower competition, golf
Three months before the opening day for Proflora, the biennial Colombian flower show, about 155 exhibitors from 10 countries has reserved booth space at Corferias convention center in Bogota, Colombia. The show will run there Oct. 2-4 and feature 1,600 flower varieties to entice more than 1,000 buyers from 40 countries, organizers predicted.