Frieda?s Inc. brings back Waterbabies for 2005
Los Alamitos, CA-based Frieda?s Inc. is bringing back its Waterbabies personal-sized watermelons.
Exclusively from Frieda?s, Waterbabies are grown in Panama. The company introduced Waterbabies to the industry last April.
The solid, bright-green, smooth-skin melons are round in shape and approximately eight inches in size. The melons are seedless and sweet with a high Brix content. Each melon is labeled with serving suggestions and a PLU number.
Last year the melons sold well at retail.
CTFA renews contract with FreshLook Marketing Group
HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL " FreshLook Marketing Group, a leading supplier of marketing research information to the perishables industry, announced that the California Tree Fruit Agreement in Reedley, CA, has renewed its contract and will continue to rely on FreshLook to provide detailed distribution, sales and pricing information on fresh peaches, plums and nectarines.
New look at Walla Walla web site
The Walla Walla Sweet Onion Marketing Committee, headquartered in Walla Walla, WA, recently debuted a new-and-improved web site (www.sweetonion.org) that provides consumer information, links to shippers? web sites, a recipe database and a historical look at the region?s most famed onion.
According to Kathy Fry, director of marketing for the committee, the site not only looks different but it also "allows visitors to access information more easily."
Flowers an important growth area for Wal-Mart
?Two to three years ago, Wal-Mart executives decided they wanted to grow their cut-flower and bouquet business," said Jennifer Springer, merchandising manager for Wal-Mart?s national floral program.
The company recognized that the grocery portion of its chain was where the floral was best placed.
Wal-Mart placed its focus on cash-and-carry cut flowers, and set goals to deliver the best value to its customers with the highest-quality flowers at the best-possible price.
FPFC and United co-host food safety webcast
LA MIRADA, CA " Food safety took center stage during an ambitious webcast co-hosted by the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association and the Fresh Produce & Floral Council, bridging the 3,000-mile gap between the headquarters of the two organizations.
The Feb. 2 bi-monthly membership luncheon meeting of the FPFC, held here at the Gateway Plaza Holiday Inn, provided a live audience for the webcast, which electronically brought together experts from various parts of the country.
Searching for the value proposition in RFID
There is little doubt that the Wal-Mart mandate " as it has been called " is the impetus that has propelled radio frequency identification technology into the limelight and produced significant development in the past year.
There also seems to be general agreement that the use of RFID will offer unknown value in many different areas in the years to come, which is a very good thing because for the fresh produce industry, the value proposition as put forth by the Wal-Mart mandate isn?t evident.
New organization aims for solidarity among San Luis Valley potato growers
A fledgling growers? cooperative brought representation of more than 50 percent of the San Luis Valley?s potato acreage to its initial gathering Jan. 12, and the organization?s president said that by early February, he expected 70-75 percent of the acreage involved.
The purpose of United Fresh Potato Growers of Colorado Inc., which is similar to co-ops formed in Idaho and Oregon, is to bring solidarity to the area?s growers, according to the organization?s president, Center, CO-area grower Dave Warsh.
IFPA helps members understand new bioterrorism law
Produce companies struggling to understand the kind of records they need to maintain under the bioterrorism law got an opportunity to ask top legal experts during a Jan. 26 teleconference sponsored by the International Fresh-cut Produce Association.
CPAC study shows that promoted potatoes enjoy higher volume
A recently released competitive analysis done by the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee stated that retailers "can enjoy case lifts [increased volume] on promoted potatoes up to 345 percent above non-advertised weeks, a rate almost three times greater than that of another leading vegetable, lettuce."
Moreover, the analysis noted, the lifts are experienced during summer months.
California Avocado Commission expands merchandising force
The California Avocado Commission announced the expansion of its retail merchandising force through agreements with David M. Anderson, Sheila Carden and Cece Krumrine, according to Jan DeLyser, vice president of marketing.