Sun Belle unveils colorful new logo and packaging
Sun Belle Inc. unveiled its colorful new logo and packaging at the Produce Marketing Association annual convention held recently in San Diego. New packaging on display included completely new labels and boxes for the company's berry line of raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and red currants, as well as new PLU and UPC stickers for its greenhouse-grown peppers and tomatoes.
Buyers weigh in on food safety issue with specific demands
An impressive group of retail and foodservice produce buyers have weighed in on the food-safety issue calling for specific Good Agricultural Practices to be in place for spinach by Dec. 15 and for other crops by Feb. 15, 2007.
Annual Chilean preseason meeting highlights industry concerns
PHILADELPHIA -- The annual preseason Chilean fruit meeting, held here Oct. 27, brought a number of revelations to the fruit import trade.
The annual meeting, which featured a workshop titled "Enhancement of Chilean Fresh Fruit Trade Operations," is presented by the Chilean & American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia. Roughly 150 people from the industry attended the meeting, which included speakers representing a variety of federal agencies, as well as ASOEX, the Chilean Exporters Association, which is based in Santiago.
New-crop Chilean avocados now arriving on weekly basis
SAN DIEGO -- Chile, which typically exports about 80 percent of its annual avocado crop to the United States and expects to do so again this year, has a record crop on the trees and expects to ship a record volume of avocados to the United States during the season which started in earnest in early October.
Groups look to initiate marketing order to address food safety concerns
At a special teleconference meeting, the Western Growers Association board of directors voted to immediately initiate the California marketing agreement and marketing order process to establish mandatory Good Agricultural Practices for the lettuce and leafy greens industries. In addition, at the Oct. 26 meeting, the board voted to initiate a federal marketing order process to develop a comprehensive national spinach and leafy greens GAPs order.
CAC study finds ripe stickers on avocados boost sales
SAN DIEGO -- Putting "Ripe" stickers on avocados that are ripe and ready to use creates a "call to action" that motivates consumer purchases and results in increased avocado sales in retail stores, according to Jan DeLyser, vice president of marketing for the California Avocado Commission, based in Santa Ana, CA.
In a recent study, "the stores that had the stickered fruit outperformed the stores without the stickered fruit almost 13 percent," Ms. DeLyser told The Produce News at the CAC booth during the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit, here, Oct. 23.
California harvest of gold kiwifruit set to begin
With a nearly 100 percent increase in volume over 2005, the Zespri gold kiwifruit season from New Zealand is now wrapping up. But gold kiwifruit aficionados won't have to wait until next year to enjoy this tropical-sweet sensation. California gold kiwifruit will hit the market in early November, and for the first time ever, gold kiwifruit is now available in smoothie form as an ingredient in the Naked Juice Co.'s new Gold Machine.
Produce industry braces for CDC to identify Salmonella outbreak source
WASHINGTON -- News that a new Salmonella outbreak is no longer a threat to consumers is little consolation to a produce industry struggling to recover from the crippling e. coli outbreak tied to fresh spinach.
Federal officials have yet to announce the food vehicle that sickened more than 170 people in 19 states with a strain of Salmonella Typhimurium since Sept. 1, but sources say that preliminary information from the two-week-long investigation points to lettuce and tomatoes as possible sources.
CTFA sees change at the top
The California Tree Fruit Agreement in Reedley, CA, announced Oct. 30 the appointment of Sheri Mierau as president of the organization, effective Jan. 1. She will succeed Blair Richardson, who announced Oct. 27 that he had decided to step down after almost five years as president. He will remain with CTFA during the transition.
Pare named Metro Richelieu's director of central produce procurement
Metro Richelieu Inc., one of Canada's larger retail supermarket chains, has promoted Alain Pare to director of central produce procurement for Quebec and Ontario.
Mr. Pare, a 31-year veteran of the retail produce industry, most recently served as Metro Richelieus director of special projects for fruits and vegetables, and has spent the past 15 years with the Montreal-based company.