SALINAS & GONZALES, CA - Taylor Farms, one of the industry’s leaders in value-added fresh food, has been awarded TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) Platinum Certification. The TRUE Zero Waste certification system prepares facilities to define, pursue, and achieve their zero waste goals, enabling companies like Taylor Farms to better cut their carbon footprint and support public health.
According to a company press release, this certification showcases Taylor Farms’ continued efforts of ingraining sustainable practices into its culture and reducing waste at all operating facilities.
Spearheaded by Director of Sustainability, Nicole Flewell, the company launched the Zero Waste Program in April, 2017.
“We are very honored to receive the highest level of recognition through the TRUE certification program for our Gonzales facility,” said Flewell. “We’re striving for certification across all operations at Taylor Farms and are focused on enabling employees with the correct tools and training to help us meet this goal.”
Since its launch, Taylor Farms noted that the facility has decreased landfill contribution by 56 percent, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 30,923 MTCO2E—the equivalent to taking 6,510 cars off the road annually.
The Gonzales Green Team, led by Sam Chaidez, Director of Operations, is comprised of managers from departments across the facility including production, receiving, shipping, facilities, sanitation, purchasing, and quality assurance. The Green Team and employees worked together to reduce incoming materials, reuse existing materials when possible, and recycle what remained throughout the facility, completing this initiative in 14 months.
“Taylor Farms recognizes that by pursuing zero waste they are helping us build a sustainable future for all,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, President and CEO, U.S. Green Building Council and GBCI. “Waste impacts all facets of business and changing the way we use resources will deliver public health benefits, reduce our environmental impact, and advance a greener economy.”
In addition to the efforts behind this recognition, the Gonzales facility utilizes various renewable and alternative energy resources to help meet Taylor Farms’ sustainability goals. The site features a three-part system that includes a wind turbine, solar and cogeneration energy systems. These systems together generate 4.2 MW of energy, a 90 percent energy offset, which is used to run the 192,000-square-foot fresh processing plant.
“This is a great achievement for Taylor Farms,” said Zach Freeze, Senior Director of Sustainability, Walmart. “As a participating supplier in Walmart’s Project Gigaton, Taylor Farms is showing their commitment to reduce waste and emissions in their operations, while continuing to provide fresh products for our customers and we are glad to see them be recognized for their efforts.”
A key element of this program focused on working upstream to eliminate wax carton from the supply chain. Led by the raw product procurement team, the group worked with Taylor Farms’ growing partners to move to 100 percent reusable bins and totes, eliminating all single use and wax cartons.
To complete this project, Taylor Farms partnered with Measure to Improve, an organization that specializes in helping growers, shippers, packers and processors measure, improve, and promote sustainability efforts. Throughout the implementation, Measure to Improve provided onsite support, training, and data tracking.
Congratulations to Taylor Farms on this achievement!
TEXAS - A wet summer is in store for southeastern Texas as multiple days of torrential downpour fill up the forecast for the region this week. According to a report by AccuWeather, an average of 4-8 inches of rain, with some local areas experiencing 8-12 inches, is expected to fall by Thursday in the areas from Beaumont, Texas, through Houston and Corpus Christi.
“Incredibly moist air will be pushed onshore and result in a prolonged period of showers and thunderstorms from the coast as far inland as San Antonio,” said AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Edwards. “Some localized flooding is also possible in parts of Austin, San Antonio, and parts of southwestern Louisiana, where 2-4 inches of rainfall are also expected.”
Last Sunday, Houston received a record-breaking 1.26 inches of rain—five times more rain than the area typically has in June, taking second place for wettest June day in recorded Houston history. Houston is also expected to receive 1 to 4 more inches of rain today. In Beaumont, Texas, 5.89 inches of rain were recorded, with 8 more inches of rain potentially falling later today. This morning, Alice, Texas, also recorded 8.73 inches of rain fell in seven hours.
While this storm is tropical in nature, AccuWeather reports development of a tropical depression or storm is not expected. A majority of southeastern Texas is facing drought conditions, which this storm will help alleviate in some areas, while also heightening the risk of flooding of roads, slowing traffic, and delaying airlines.
During this time of the year, artichokes and peaches are in peak season, but no reports have surfaced regarding the rain’s effect on these crops.
SANTA BARBARA, CA - Anytime I hear avocado news, my ears perk up. Being from California, it’s hard not to be slightly avocado-obsessed. So imagine my delight when I heard that a Bill Gates-backed company would soon be supplying the green beauts to Costco and beyond.
Apeel Sciences, founded in 2012 with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced that Del Rey Avocado Company would supply Apeel avocados to Costco stores in the United States' Midwest. Additionally, Apeel avocados supplied by Eco Farms have now become available at Harps Food Stores, an Associated Wholesale Grocers chain of supermarkets in the Midwest. The announcement marks the company’s first U.S. fresh food supplier and retail partnership and an important moment in the battle against the $2.6 trillion dollar per year global food waste crisis.
“We’re excited to be working with exceptional partners as they share our vision of a food system that provides better quality food for all and less waste. With our partners, we believe we can increase the availability and accessibility of high-quality, nutritious produce while simultaneously preserving our natural resources and environment,” said James Rogers, CEO and Founder of Apeel Sciences.
According to a press release, Apeel is the first plant-derived solution for extending produce shelf-life, which dramatically reduces food waste at the supplier, retailer, and consumer levels. Additionally, since avocados with Apeel maintain quality and optimal ripeness twice as long—without requiring the use of refrigeration or preservatives—the company noted that it is now possible to bring better quality avocados to supermarkets across the U.S.
“Del Rey Avocado is excited to provide the first Apeel Avocados to Costco. Del Rey Avocado takes pride in ensuring that the highest quality avocados make it to the consumer each and every time,” said Jessica Hunter, Vice President of Production for Del Rey Avocado Company.
Will these avocados soon be supplied to retailers nationwide? AndNowUKnow will keep you up-to-date on the latest.
VANCOUVER, BC - Village Farms has announced plans to launch an innovative new value-added line—offering the greenhouse grower’s perennially popular, exclusive specialty snacking tomatoes in a new 10 oz topseal container—all while saving shelf space and eliminating waste.
Now, consumers can enjoy Heavenly Villagio Marzano®, Cabernet Estate Reserve®, Cherry no 9®, Lip Smackn’ Grape®, Maverick Mix™, and Village Farms’ newest tomato variety Lorabella Blossom®—each in a clear, topseal label-film rimmed with a unique, fun, and lively design.
“Increasing dollar sales in the same shelf space and reducing the potential of out of stock all while improving labor efficiency with less restocking are all benefits with this program,” noted Helen L. Aquino, Director of Brand Marketing & Communications for Village Farms, in a press release. “Plus reducing shrink by increasing shelf-life with topseal containers provides an important benefit for our retail partners.”
According to the company’s press release, Village Farms is challenging consumers to ‘Snack with Impact’—and using the company’s new ‘Stackable Snackables’ program to encourage healthy snacking. And retailers are also embracing the topseal program for its three-fold benefits: adding more items per square inch of merchandising space allowing five high container stacking, increasing shelf life compared to bags or clamshells, and reducing plastic waste compared to clamshells.
Each of Village Farms’ new topseal packages feature a design reportedly depicting the spirit of each variety complete with an original illustration created exclusively by Village Farms. The Stackable Snackable program is designed to make healthy snacking fun and easy for consumers with the high impact graphics enticing consumers to ‘Snack with Impact.’
For more on innovative new products in fresh produce, keep reading AndNowUKnow.
SALINAS, CA - The Nunes Company is reigniting a partnership that dates back to 1989, returning actress and model Brooke Shields to her rightful place as role model and icon of wellness, fitness, and healthy lifestyles for the company’s brand. This reunion with Shields is the company's latest marketing campaign to encourage people of all ages to eat right and take care of their health—a core attribute of The Nunes Company.
“Our partnership with Brooke Shields not only provides our company with great publicity, it is also an effective differentiator by adding value to our amazing retail partners across the United States. By increasing our brand recognition, we hope to encourage consumption of fruits and vegetables among all generations. We could not be more pleased with the opportunities this partnership brings to the Foxy brand,” said Tom Nunes, Jr., President.
Rolling out this July and running through June of 2019, The Nunes Company’s latest marketing campaign will include trade advertising and a series of billboards throughout the Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and Great Lakes region that target millennial parents, Generation X, and Baby Boomers, according to a press release.
After working with Shields in 1989 and considering the successful campaign a legacy—something many still remember 30 years later, the company noted—The Nunes Company felt this year was the right time to reengage such a public role model, whose work surrounding health, fitness, and beauty is recognizable and appeared in the likes of The Today Show, Vogue, and Social Life Magazine.
The company also said that mothers account for nearly 80 percent of U.S. household purchases, according to Forbes, making Shields a great figure to relate to.
“Ms. Shields, being an active, working mom, is an ideal role model and brand ambassador for the Foxy brand,” said Mark Crossgrove, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
For more epic produce team-ups, stay up-to-date with AndNowUKnow.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - The industry is saying goodbye to a retail pioneer after Charles Hooley, Co-Founder for Cub Foods, passed away on Sunday, June 17th, at the age of 89. Hooley’s hand in Cub Foods helped the retailer to carve out a path as one of the nation’s first big-box grocery chains.
Hooley was born into a family steeped in the food industry. His grandfather, an Irish immigrant, moved to Minnesota during the late 1800s and delivered food to lumberjacks. Following suite, Hooley’s father, Matt Hooley, opened Stillwater-based Hooley’s Grocery Store during the 1920s.
Following in their family’s footsteps, Hooley and his brother, Jack, who passed away in 2016, decided to tackle the industry with a different perspective when they teamed up with their brother-in-law Bob Thueson, and their friend Culver Davis. The four launched Cub Foods together in 1968 with a different view on grocery shopping that offered price-conscious shoppers a warehouse-style and conveyor-belt-using setup to expand purchasing power for the owners in the hopes of handing down more savings for customers. This revolutionary way of grocery shopping also included membership fees for a time, according to the Twin Cities’ Pioneer Press.
Eden Prairie-based Supervalu has since taken Cub Foods under its wing, where it has branched out to eight stores throughout Minnesota and beyond.
Hooley also held the title of Mayor for Stillwater, where he took the position in 1993.
A visitation is set to be held at Simonet Funeral Home in Stillwater on Thursday, according to Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
Our thoughts are with anyone affected by this loss.
KINGSVILLE, ON - Coming up first in several categories at the 11th annual Leamington Greenhouse Competition, SUNSET® took home seven awards, making it the most awarded contestant of the two-day competition, the company said.
Overall Best Tomato and Overall Best Pepper were two of the most notable awards SUNSET won during the show, but the company also took top honors in five other categories, including:
- Cluster Tomato
- Cocktail Tomato
- Bite-Size Tomato
- Specialty Bell Pepper
- Specialty Hot Pepper
In addition, SUNSET placed in all three spots of the Bite-Size Tomato category, with Flavor Bombs® ranking first.
“We are honored to receive numerous awards for our premium produce at this year’s Greenhouse Competition,” said CEO Paul Mastronardi. “Winning all three spots in the Bite-Size category, along with winning Best Overall Tomato and Best Overall Pepper is a true testament to the strength of the SUNSET brand and its commitment to innovation and flavor.”
Products are entered in to a double-blind taste test, according to a press release, which are first judged by a panel of experts, including representatives from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Affairs, chefs, and produce managers. All entries are then judged by the public, who cast over 1,000 votes this year.
“What I love most about this competition is that products are judged purely on their flavor,” said Mastronardi. “Flavor is our top priority at SUNSET, so receiving the most awards at this year’s competition is a great compliment to our hardworking team.”
The annual greenhouse competition is hosted by R.E.A.C.H. International, a locally funded charitable organization, with proceeds going toward the funding of schools and clinics in Uganda.
Congratulations to SUNSET for once again showing up and showing out at the Leamington Greenhouse Competition!
MEXICO - Thefts are impacting the Mexican grape deal beyond just a case here and a case there. Instead, they look more like grand larceny, growing into an issue that is costing the industry millions.
The Association of Producers of Grapes, Fruits, and Vegetables of Sonora’s President, Marco Antonio Molina Rodríguez, told news source El Imparcial that, due to the wave of robberies and assaults, more than 60 grape producers in the region have been affected in recent years.
"There is proliferation and lack of punishment for the people who commit these crimes, we see with great concern that there are robberies and arrest the alleged thieves and in one or two hours they are free and ready to commit again that or other crimes, because there is no punishment,” he said.
Between one and two thousand boxes of table grapes are stolen daily from agricultural fields across the state, according to the association, and the annual loss amounts to $2 million.
Molina Rodríguez told the source that the Sonoran fruit has a very high value in the international market. In particular, the grape can be worth up to $25 per box. If, on average, 2,000 boxes per day were stolen, that would amount to $50,000.
Calling for a more severe punishment for those responsible, Molina Rodríguez explained that not only grape growers have been harmed—many of them by organized groups of criminals—but also farmers in general, including those in other growing industries like nut producers. Many vendors offering their products on city cruises, especially table grapes, are people who sell fruit that was illegally purchased, even when it is in company bags, he said.
As we watch to see if this call to action could be answered by statutes befitting of the crime, AndNowUKnow will report the latest.
VIDALIA, GA - As we approach the first day of summer, cookout plans become constant, and really, what are these plans without onions? Shuman Produce, grower of RealSweet® Vidalia onions, knows that onion availability throughout the summer is a must.
John Shuman, President and CEO of Shuman Produce, offers us a behind-the-scenes look at the Vidalia onion summer supply.
“The first several weeks of the Vidalia harvest, the weather was almost ideal,” John shares, explaining how the company made good time getting in and out of the fields as the onions were packed away for storage. “We were able to fill our storage rooms for the summer months, so we expect good availability all summer long. We don’t expect to see a short season out of storage.”
This is good news for onion-lovers and retailers looking to promote onions throughout the summer months.
In addition to Vidalia onions, John also comments on the upcoming availability of Peruvian sweet onions.
“The Peruvian sweet onions are starting to mature, so we do expect that harvest to begin in about thirty days,” John says. “We see a transition from Vidalia onions to Peruvian sweet onions sometime mid- to late-August.”
I definitely foresee onion rings in my immediate future.
For more insider info on Vidalia onions and Peruvian sweets, watch the brief video above.
WESTBOROUGH, MA - Earlier this year, BJ’s Wholesale Club announced it would be going public again after nearly a decade as a privately held company. This week, Seeking Alpha reported the retailer is updating its IPO offering. Now, BJ’s plans to offer 37.5 million shares in a range of $15 to $17, which would raise $637.5 million and give the retailer a market capitalization of up to $2.15 billion, according to a report by CNBC.
BJ’s Wholesale Club noted that operational changes instituted by management have delivered results rapidly. Consequently, the retailer has seen positive and accelerating comparable club sales over the last three quarters and net income growth of over 109 percent, as well as adjusted EBITDA growth of 31 percent in aggregate over the last two fiscal years, according to the report by Seeking Alpha.
After much speculation on whether the retailer would again go public or instead enter a buyout, will BJ’s Wholesale Club’s choice to return to the public market and latest IPO update give it an edge over competitors like Kroger, Costco, and SuperValu? AndNowUKnow will continue to report as the story unfolds.