Italian firm inspired after attending first PMA Fresh Summit
Speedy97 S.r.l., headquartered in Scordia in the province of Catania, Sicily, is a major grower and packer of high-quality Sicilian citrus fruits. Sebastiano Spicchiale, president and chief executive officer, Rudolf Baron Von Freyberg, partner and vice president, and Giuseppe Spicchiale, junior partner, attended their first PMA Fresh Summit in Houston in October. Initially not certain of what they would learn about doing business in the United States, they came away from the PMA experience inspired by future possibilities.
Max Yeater promoted at Pro*Act
Pro*Act, a leading fresh produce supplier to the foodservice industry based in Monterey, CA, announced the promotion of Max Yeater to the newly created position of chief operating officer.
Mr. Yeater previously held the position of vice president of procurement. In his new role, Mr. Yeater will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company with procurement, client services, marketing, business development and food safety all under his purview. He reports to Steve Grinstead, president and chief executive officer of Pro*Act.
Senate committee passes farm bill; includes record funding for specialty crops
WASHINGTON -- A Senate committee approved its version of the 2007 farm bill with an estimated $3 billion for specialty crop programs, nearly doubling the funding amount approved in the House.
The farm bill, which is expected to reach the Senate floor in the next two weeks, also contains the House-passed compromise agreement that paves the way for country-of-origin labeling for meats, nuts, fruits and vegetables.
Canada unveils joint comparison project of worldwide food-safety programs
An initiative that started in early 2006 as a project among the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors, the Canadian Horticultural Council and the Canadian Produce Marketing Association to promote food safety by establishing comparability of Canadian industry-led food-safety programs at the primary production and packer-wholesaler levels of the supply chain with those in place in other countries has resulted in a detailed, 125-page comparison report on 15 non-Canadian programs from around the world.
New microwaveable corn poised to set industry on its ear
HOUSTON -- It's an innovation that may just set the produce industry on its ear.
AAAbco LLC, the marketing arm of Feasterville, PA-based seed company Abbott & Cobb, unveiled its new microwaveable, easy-open single ear of premium corn at the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit, held here Oct. 12-15.
Jem-D and Flavour Pict merge operations
A merger north of the border has brought together two highly regarded greenhouse growers known for their quality products.
Jem-D International and Flavour Pict Produce, which are both based in Leamington, ON, merged operations effective Oct. 1. According to Jim DiMenna, president of Jem-D International, the deal is in the transition phase and should be finalized by Feb. 1.
Fires and wind devastate thousands of acres of avocado groves
Numerous wildfires throughout a wide area of Southern California, but primarily in various locations of northern San Diego County, were still raging out of control Oct. 23, but the hot, dry easterly Santa Ana winds that had driven the blazes finally began to shift and a cooler, more humid on-shore flow began moving into the area.
INDUSTRY VIEWPOINT: The perfect promotion partner
It is harvest time, and the best apples from across the country are heading to market. Once the apples are off the trees, the next big challenge is to find the best way to let consumers know that they are ready for purchase. The majority of consumers do not decide what they are going to buy until they are actually standing in the supermarket aisle, so it makes sense to reach consumers with information about apples when they are ready to make the decision to purchase: in the store.
Item-level coding to help retailers improve ring accuracy
HOUSTON -- The same error is made in virtually every supermarket, every day of the year, by almost every checker. A loose apple, tomato or onion is scanned at the wrong price. The harried checker sees a Royal Gala coming at her and because she is familiar with the price lookup number for the more popular, and less expensive, Red Delicious apple, that's what she uses while weighing the apple. Or maybe it's an organic orange that gets weighed as a conventional one. Or cluster tomatoes that get mistaken for medium round.
Wilson family splits from Wilson-Batiz, forms Wilson Produce
Wilson-Batiz LLC in Nogales, AZ, and sister company Wilson-Batiz of California in San Diego came into being in 1999 as a result of the merger of the James K. Wilson Produce Co. in Nogales, AZ, with the Batiz family, which had been formerly involved in R.B. Packing and various other agricultural enterprises in Mexico.
The families have now separated their operations into two entities: Wilson Produce in Nogales and Royal Flavor in San Diego.