The Kroger Co. and Instacart announced an expanded relationship to continue to innovate the customer digital shopping experience. The companies are looking to find new ways to provide customers fresh food and pantry staples through improved efficiency, increased access to Express Delivery and new, agentic shopping experiences.

Westfalia Fruit has established a new customer development team, led by newly appointed Dani Busseni as global head of customer marketing and development. The new appointments combine market insights, commercial strategy and category management expertise to identify growth opportunities for both customers and growers.

The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas announced that Pedro Francisco Batiz Guillen will receive the Pillar of the Industry Award at FPAA’s 2025 Annual Meeting. 

Sunrise Logistics Inc., a member of The Four Seasons Family of Cos., will introduce a high pressure processing (HPP) tolling service integration at its state-of-the-art cold chain operation in Ephrata, PA.

The Northwest pear harvest has made a tremendous comeback from last year’s crop and is back on its feet with a 60 percent increase over 2024 — with the entire U.S. pear crop estimated at a 22 percent increase. So get ready to run some exciting retail pear promotional ads now through Christmas.

Some people love to network. Others find it awkward or even exhausting. No matter which type of produce industry pro you are, the Southwest International Produce Expo is designed to be a refreshing place to connect and conduct business. The event, best known as SWIPE, is redefining how trade show business gets done — by making it easy, laid-back and, most of all, fun.

Imagine more cold drinks over lively activity and less small talk at stale mixers.