HOUSTON, TX - Foodservice distribution company Sysco recently announced a new partnership, and its one with which ANUK readers will be familiar. Its e-commerce platform, Supplies on the Fly, will partner with Frieda’s Specialty Produce to offer next-day delivery of specialty and exotic produce items to customers nationwide.
“We are excited about our partnership with Frieda’s Specialty Produce, a women-owned, family-run specialty fruit and vegetable business that has inspired new food experiences for over 50 years,” said Brian Todd, Sysco’s Senior Vice President of Merchandising. “This partnership demonstrates our commitment to being our customers’ most valued and trusted business partner by expanding our portfolio of innovative and on-trend products that provide our customers with an opportunity to differentiate their menus and businesses.”
Supplies on the Fly, an exclusive online ordering platform for Sysco customers, was designed with convenience top-of-mind. According to a press release, this service allows for foodservice distributors to order the essentials, bill it to Sysco, and then have it delivered to their door. Talk about easy! The platforms offers upwards of 170,000 products, and now with Frieda’s involved, Sysco’s customers can choose from over 150 specialty produce items and orders will be delivered next day—maintaining the freshness of the product.
“Frieda’s is excited to join the Supplies on the Fly family,” said Karen Caplan, Frieda’s President and CEO. “This partnership directly connects Frieda’s to foodservice operators across the country and together we have the opportunity to inspire new food experiences for customers. We are delighted by the opportunity to strengthen our brand and our relationship with Sysco.”
For the latest in who’s teaming up to bring the best in produce, keep reading us here at AndNowUKnow.
MONTEREY, CA - ‘Tis the season for giving, for stuffing our faces with amazing dishes, hanging with family and friends, for remembering what we are thankful for...and at the top of that list also: marking our calendars for the second annual Organic Grower Summit (OGS).
Kicking off December 12-13 at the Monterey Conference Center in Monterey, California, the event brings together attendees from across the produce industry to mix and mingle. Included in that lucky lot are organic growers, producers, and processors, as well as exhibitors including soil amendment, bio-pesticide, seed, packaging, food safety, ag technology, and equipment manufacturers, as well as pest management advisors and food safety experts.
And don’t forget the Costco’s “Meet the Grower” program, which will provide certified organic farmers and growers the opportunity to meet with Costco buyers. While I could list all the events of the two-day show, I thought we could tap a few of the industry leaders who attended the event last year to speak about their excitement and its impact.
Jeff Huckaby, President, Grimmway Farms
“The Organic Grower Summit brought an impressive group of growers and suppliers together under one roof. Everyone present had a stake in the industry which helped facilitate focused and productive discussions. Each session provided insights valuable to the broad range of producers in our industry, and we’re looking forward to another great event this year.”
Vic Smith, President and CEO, JV Smith Companies
“This year we will be sending a large number of participants from our multiple growing operations. The value gained from this event is huge…educational workshops, new technologies, and networking, to name just a few. And I personally enjoy the entire event visiting with all the great people attending.”
Tony Freytag, Founder and Executive Vice President, Crunch Pak
“The 2017 Organic Grower Summit was a great opportunity for growers to be front and center with key retailers with a wealth of information, education, and networking opportunities all there. With the growth of organic consumers, growing supply, and the ongoing and continuing emphasis by retailers, this summit makes perfect sense.”
The Organic Grower Summit was launched by the Organic Produce Network (OPN) and California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). Matt Seeley, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of the Organic Produce Network, is gearing up with Co-Founder Tonya Antle to bring an even more coveted program this year.
“I am super excited about our new two-day format to give the organic community a well-rounded overview of the opportunity and challenges facing those who are actively growing organic fresh foods,” Matt tells me. “Following the success of last year’s first-ever OGS, we’ve got a tremendous series of educational sessions, keynote presentations, and a sold-out exhibit trade-show floor. While organics is in its infancy, OGS is an opportunity for all of us involved in the organic community to see where the industry is going and what a bright future we’ve got ahead of us.”
With OGS just around the corner, I will be seeing you all in Monterey very soon!
WATSONVILLE, CA - This year has been one of expansion for California Giant Berry Farms, not only through the growth of its staff, but also through the expansion of both its raspberry and 4-berry programs. The main goal of these program expansions is to maintain consistency of quality, production, and consumer messaging throughout the supply chain. Raspberries will now be produced year-round due to evolving programs in Mexico for winter crops.
Nick Chappell, Director of Retail Sales, commented in a recent press release that expansion of the program had been pivotal for the company. “Our raspberry operations in Mexico are both advanced and progressive, and ultimately, the gap we once had in the winter months where our raspberry supply had fallen short has now been filled.” He continued, “We look forward to offering year-round availability of all four berries and offering a smooth transition from our Mexico season all the way through the start of our California season.”
In addition to the increase to the amount of berries supplied, California Giant has also recently launched their docking collaboration with Mann Packing in Yuma, Arizona. Tom Smith, the Director of Foodservice claims that this collaboration will provide consumers with a “one-stop-shop.”
He elaborates that the docking is “resulting in a much more efficient consolidation process. Customers can reduce the number of stops on their trucks, therefore reducing time on the road and adding shelf life to the berries when they arrive to the consumer. We plan to return to the Salinas Valley in spring 2019 to further this partnership as we continue to service our customers.”
This willingness to collaborate with partners to jointly ship vegetable orders through the desert showcases an exploration of freight-forwarding opportunities that will continue to be a trend in the future. AndNowUKnow will continue to report on California Giant’s expansion programs and future freight-forwarding implementation.
BELLE GLADE, FL - Corn as a year-round staple is a must-have in produce departments. Whether it is summer grilling occasions or fall treats, desserts, or soups...I can stock my fridge with this veg every day. And thanks to Duda Farm Fresh Foods, I can—especially now.
Currently harvesting in Belle Glade, Florida, Duda is reporting that weather conditions are great for its Super Sweet Corn program, it has been unusually hot allowing rapid maturity and shifting harvest dates up to five days earlier. 
“Quality remains excellent. Volumes seem to be limited due to increased demand coming off the Georgia season and the devastating hurricane. That impacted a large amount of the typical Georgia crop,” Bert Barnes, Account Manager, shares with me as we discuss one of the year great opportunities to push and promote corn at retail: the fall and winter holidays.
Duda anticipates demand to decrease moving through the holiday, and supply should remain steady barring any weather events. As we look to Christmas, Duda anticipates moderate demand as well.
Just this past year, Duda elevated its corn program to include a value-added element to its year-round Super Sweet Corn line. With a new wave of consumer demands, and as an extension of Duda’s commitment to delivering high-quality products, the decision made absolute sense. The product comes pre-shucked and ready-to-eat in 100 percent recyclable trays. This new packaging holds the corn in place better during transit, which decreases the likelihood that the product will be damaged during transportation.
I’ll be adding corn to my basket as we move through November and into December. And if you haven't yet, you should too.
MCLEAN, VA - Gladstone Land has announced its second significant acquisition of November, finishing the autumn month with a new acquisition in Hartley County, Texas. The acquisition adds an $8.5 million, 3,667-acre potato farm (about $2,318 per acre) to its portfolio.
“We have been seeking farms in Texas for some time now, and the right opportunity finally presented itself,” said Bill Hughes, Managing Director of Gladstone Land. “This farm is in a prime growing location and has very good water, with 12 wells and 13 pivots on site. While the main crop grown on the farm is chip potatoes, the tenant also grows some corn and wheat in their regular rotation. We are really excited about our new partnership with CSS Farms and hope to expand on the relationship across the country.”
The farm, which is currently leased to CSS Farms, LLC, a national agribusiness company and market leader in chip, seed, and specialty potatoes, includes over 2,200 irrigated acres growing primarily chip potatoes, according to a press release.
“This acquisition allows us to continue to diversify and expand the number of properties we own, while continuing to maintain our focus on farms that have strong water sources and grow healthy foods, such as fresh produce like potatoes. This is our second significant acquisition of November, and we hope to continue this trend and finish 2018 on a high note,” said David Gladstone, President and CEO of Gladstone Land. “As a side note, we are all saying a prayer for those who have lost loved ones or their homes as a result of the recent wildfires in certain parts of California. We have been fortunate in that our farms have not been harmed by the fires, as our farms are in the flatlands, while the fires are mostly in the mountains. But God bless those brave firefighters and others who are helping to protect against further disaster from these terrible wildfires.”
For more on major acquisitions within the produce space, keep following AndNowUKnow.
SEATTLE, WA - Amazon has become synonymous with holiday shopping, and they’ve got the numbers to back that statement up. During both Thanksgiving and the current lead-up to Christmas, consumers are hopping online and traveling in store to have their holiday needs met. The e-tailer recently announced that its Cyber Monday was the single biggest shopping day in the company’s history and the Turkey 5—the days starting with Thanksgiving and continuing to Monday—broke records as well.
“Black Friday and Cyber Monday continue to break records on Amazon year over year, which tells us that customers love shopping for deals to kick off the holiday shopping season,” stated Jeff Wilke, CEO Worldwide Consumer. “With curated gift guides, convenient shopping experiences, incredible product selection, and free shipping with no minimum purchase amount, Amazon offers customers tremendous value—sure to deliver smiles all season long.”
The holiday weekend highlights for the United States included:
- Sales by small and medium-sized businesses worldwide grew more than 20 percent on Black Friday year-over-year
- Throughout the Turkey 5, Amazon.com customers ordered more than 180 million items.
According to a press release, groceries purchased at Whole Foods Market played a factor in these record-breaking sales, as Prime members purchased last-minute ingredients for Thanksgiving meals—such as lemons, celery, and onions—and prepared holiday meals numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Additionally, an all-time record number of turkeys were sold during this Thanksgiving season—the celery and onions obviously needed to frame a marvelous bird!
To read the entirety of the press release, click here.
HERMOSILLO, MEXICO - SunFed’s squash season in Sonora and Sinaloa is well underway as we move through one of the major peak times of year: the holidays. The company harvests in Sonora all season long, but early fall, all shipping comes from Hermosillo, Mexico.
Gretchen Kreidler Austin, Director Marketing and Business Development, and Frank Camera, Director of Sales, join me to talk shop about what we can expect moving forward with the remainder of 2019.
“Production from the Hermosillo region is finishing up and supplies are sparse. We transition to our winter growing regions of Guaymas in southern Sonora, and Guamúchil in Sinaloa, last week of November and move into the first week of December,” Frank tells me.
SunFed is currently shipping yellow squash, zucchini, and gray squash (aka Calabacita), and the team grows all three varieties—zucchini, yellow squash, and gray squash in its Hermosillo growing regions of Selva and Orebalma. When the company moves into strictly winter production, the team only grows zucchini and yellow squash in Guaymas, and in Guamúchil SunFed grows all its winter production for yellow and some zucchini and gray.
At this point, we turn to the market, the ever-dynamic situation of supply and demand.
“We are coming to the end of a glut in production, cooler nights set in about a few weeks ago and it has really shortened the overall supply as there is less product that is available and demand has picked up—markets are sure to increase,” Gretchen notes.
Frank explains that, “the plants have become tired from producing since mid-September and the cool weather slows the production of the squash, so that is where those tightening SunFed supplies are coming from. Squash likes bright skies, whether it be sun or full moon, and warm temperatures.”
For all-things squash, stay tuned in to AndNowUKnow. And Happy Holidays!
FAISON, NC - Despite two hurricanes and Louisiana's banning of North Carolina sweet potatos, Southern Produce has kept its promise to both farmers and consumers to continue with business as usual. In order to provide the quality and quantity of product it is known for, the company has continued with a financial restructuring it hopes will better serve its customers.
Chief Financial Officer Randy Swartz explained that, “our restructure has allowed us to evolve and innovate on current industry best practices and future needs as well as hire key personnel to ensure we maintain the highest level of quality and customer care.”
Recent progress in the restructure has included one new hire and two promotions at Southern Produce. Brooke Crumpler was named the company’s new Director of Domestic Sales and Marketing after working with the company for a year and a half. On her LinkedIn profile, she explains that she is “passionate about agriculture and farmers' and scientists' ability to feed an ever-growing population." Southern Produce noted in its press release that this passion, along with her previous marketing and advertising experience with Southern Produce and Clifton Seeds, demonstrate her ability to uphold the company's values of customer care.
Ashley Jach has also been promoted and will be stepping into the position of Director of International Sales and Processing, in addition to maintaining her role as company Manager of Logistics. In the past, Jach has worked closely with Sales at Southern Produce to insure customer care goals are met. Her valued “customer first” mentality has provided this promotional opportunity with the company.
The hiring of new Business Analyst Matt Dula was also announced in its press release. He will join the Sales team in bolstering customer satisfaction and brings his own agricultural business background to ensure company success.
Continue to read AndNowUKnow for updates on Southern Produce and its newly appointed staff.
BROCKTON, MA - This holiday season, what more could you want than festively-colored avocados? Concord Foods knows you need these fruits in your life, just as your consumers do. With its latest trade marketing efforts, the company focused on differentiating its easy-to-use companion packets as the premier choice for retailer avocado and holiday displays to drive increased sales.
“The popularity of avocados for all types of entertaining, in conjunction with consumer trends for convenience, positions our products as the ideal companion for Holiday and Superbowl displays in store,” said Samantha McCaul, Marketing Manager, in a press release. “According to the Haas Avocado Board, 65 million avocados are consumed during the Superbowl each year, which gives retailers the unique opportunity to increase sales with merchandising that encourages the purchase of our guacamole mixes as well.”
As consumers demand more fresh and convenient foods, the company noted that it needed to elevate its products as the top choice for shoppers’ entertaining needs while accomodating their busy lifestyles. Following its 50th anniversary this year, Concord Foods updated its branding and packaging and also launched a new website. The website now features new branding and product information, with a consumer-focused retail page to drive sales in store.
“After much time and investment this year, we are excited to add our new site as the finale to all the efforts we have made to showcase Concord as a modern brand,” added McCaul. “Consistent with our new branding and packaging, the website is now a fresh and true reflection of the innovative business that we are.”
The press release noted that the website offers easy entertaining recipes and tips, as well as a product locator to keep up with the convenient solutions consumers crave.
As our industry continues to evolve, AndNowUKnow will report the latest and greatest in food trends.
WASHINGTON, DC - All eyes have been on California’s raging wildfires in the past few weeks as flames continue to burn land across the state. And with those eyes come plenty of questions about where the responsibility for prevention efforts lie. A new farm bill now in front of Congress would shift that responsibility to allow the Department of Agriculture to take action by implementing controlled burns or removing dead wood. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue sat down in a recent interview with NPR to clarify what the new farm bill would mean for California’s wildfires and our industry.
“Well, there will be extra money [for forest management] in the farm bill,” Perdue clarified when asked abou previous erroneous reports that the federal government would provide a lump sum to California’s wildfire prevention efforts. In year’s past, the Forest Service would have to dig into their park spending budgets to fund firefighting and fire prevention.
The change, “only takes effect in the fiscal year 2020, which begins next October 1,” Perdue continued. “If it gives us the authority to do what are common-sense measures in defensible spaces, protecting the urban-rural-forest interface there, structures and loss of life, we can prioritize those. Heretofore, we've been really litigated into paralysis about being able to do the common-sense thinning and underbrush cleaning that needs to happen to prevent these amazing, awesome forest fires.”
Perdue noted that much of the litigation he referred to was from groups that believe the forest clearing would go too far, then clarified that the government is mainly looking to keep forests “well-groomed.”
As we’ve previously reported, the current farm bill sets out to tackle many topics related to both California and nationwide fresh produce. Included in the bill is continued funding for the specialty crop research, new funding in the fight against citrus greening, continued support of export programs, as well as support for both the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) program, which allow additional access to fresh produce for low income and food insecure families.
AndNowUKnow will continue to share the latest on the developing farm bill and California’s ongoing struggle with wildfires.