Asparagus category management program available from PAIA
The Peruvian Asparagus Importers Association in Miami has developed a category management program for Peruvian asparagus in an attempt to assist retailers in the increase sales of fresh asparagus.
The plan includes market summary, Peruvian industry facts, consumer positioning, category strategies, a monthly ad planner, suggested goals and objectives, key product and consumer demographics, purchasing facts and other important asparagus statistics.
California rains hammer early cherry varieties
Things were looking promising for the early cherry crop in the San Joaquin Valley right up until the start of the harvest in late April. Then the rains came.
It had been a notoriously wet winter, and the pattern was not letting up with the arrival of spring. But rarely has the valley seen rainfall of any real significance so late in the season. So with each storm system that passed through, there was an optimism, if not the expectation, that it would be the last.
But Mother Nature dashed those hopes with a vengeance.
Vidalia Onion Committee's Sweetie makes her debut
As the long-anticipated Vidalia onion season arrived, millions of the southern jewels are waiting in their beds, awaiting their trips across the country and the world. This year, one extremely special onion has already arrived in Vidalia and then onto the Great White Way.
Sweetie, the new mascot of the Vidalia Onion Committee, made her debut at the Vidalia Onion Festival's air show and craft show to the enjoyment of spectators.
Rain pushes Georgia crops back about 10 days
Georgia farmers got a hefty dose of rain during the first part of March. Terry Kelley, a representative from the University of Georgia Extension Services, said that the wet weather has affected summer crops throughout the state.
Newman's Own Organics launches potato line
Aptos, CA-based Newman's Own Organics Fresh Produce is expanding its line to include potatoes.
The Newman's Own Organics potato line will include organic Russet potatoes in five-pound bags and loose in 50-pound cartons, as well as organic red potatoes in five-pound bags and loose in 50-pound cartons.
The five-pound potato bags will resemble all of the fresh produce packaging with the photo of an American Gothic "Pa" Newman and daughter Nell, along with the USDA's organic seal.
Michey Cohen was 87
Raymond (Mickey) Cohen, founder of Cohen Produce Marketing, headquartered in Aspers, PA, died April 20 after a long illness. He was 87.
Apricot outlook 'normal' after expected big crop reduced by weather
"It looks as though, all things considered, we are likely to end up with a normal harvest in total," Tom Tjerandsen, manager of the California Fresh Apricot Council, said with regard to the 2005 California apricot crop.
Earlier in the season, it had appeared that the harvest would yield a "greater-than-normal volume of apricots this year. But the crop potential "has been slowly chipped away because of principally weather-related issues, he said May 6.
Mann Packing, Consolidated Farms team up on sweet potato products
SALINAS, CA - Mann Packing Co., based here, and Livingston, CA-based Consolidated Farms are teaming up to form California Fresh Farms LLC, a joint venture that will take fresh-cut sweet potatoes to the nation's restaurants and supermarkets.
A&P stock rises on news of sale
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., the owner of A&P supermarkets, hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. to find a buyer for its Canadian grocery-store business, a sale that could raise more than $1 billion.
This announcement, combined with its latest financial results and a planned major restructuring, led to sharply higher stock prices the week of May 9-13.
A&P plans to sell A&P Canada, divest itself of its Midwest operations, and concentrate on its core operations in the broad corridor from Connecticut to Washington, DC.
Goodlatte to introduce bill to repeal COOL for produce
With legislation just introduced that would repeal mandatory country-of-origin labeling for meat, members of the produce industry wonder if their products can be far behind.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) is planning to introduce a comprehensive bill in the coming weeks that would add produce and seafood to the list of commodities no longer controlled by the mandatory COOL law.