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NOGALES, AZ - The folks over at SunFed are making steady headway as they enter 2018 with hothouse eggplant now in full-swing from the team behind the Perfect Produce® brand. SunFed’s supplies of Perfect Eggplant seek to provide retailers with the much needed volumes as we move through the winter months. As we gain ground in the new year, Director of Sales Frank Camera takes some time to chat with me about the current eggplant market and what we can expect as the season continues to ramp up.
“We are currently in a tight market due to the cold temperatures in the Southeast which have limited supplies from the region, creating a period of high demand,” Frank explains to me. “As trying times have hit many segments of the industry in the recent months, it seems to have propped eggplant up for a successful season. So far, everything is looking good. There is a lot of product that is grown out in open fields, and we actually grow about 90 percent of our eggplant under protected agriculture, so we at SunFed are looking forward to seeing great supply of quality product in the coming months.”
The Mexican eggplant coming out of Nogales is coming in good supply, he shares, as warmer temperatures in Mexico earlier this season have nurtured growth.
“Weather-wise we had a couple of days of cooler weather, but nothing comparable to what was seen in Southeast growing regions. Colder temps are definitely going to have an effect on the market based on the reports we’re hearing,” he shares with me.
I ask Frank how this is impacting the market and he shares that eggplant prices have been climbing recently and going forward, only time and weather will tell.
“Right now we’ve been on a steady upmarket since right after the New Year. We could feel demand immediately, and we’ll probably see a little more upswing before it caps out,” Frank tells me. “We haven’t hit the threshold yet, but with everything that is happening with the freight, it’s hard to say what the threshold will be on the eggplant. My gut is that we’re very close to it because of the elevated costs of the freight.”
For those unfamiliar with what is happening with freight, which we previously reported on, Frank explains to me that due to changes in freight costs and logbooks, “The way people are used to doing business over the years is going to change—order lead times for the customer are going to have to change.”
He clarifies that this in no way is resulting in late eggplant border arrival and delivery; however, the company is sending product to McAllen to help customers in the Midwest and on the East Coast to take advantage of the hopefully reduced freight rates through the portal. The company’s tactical approach, forking the importation of the coveted produce item, allows it to enter the market from multiple distribution angles and address a broader spectrum of consumers.
When I ask Frank to expand upon the timeline of tighter than usual supply, though, it seems to be a steady concern that will trail further into this coming season.
“Over the next months we will see increased demand due to the Easter demand, but as we move towards the spring, the Southeast crop will be back in,” he shares.
As eggplant season carries on, the company looks to its shade houses to carry it through the harsh weather and current freight conditions, no doubt prepped and primed for a fruitful season as it tackles these difficult-to-navigate challenges.
LOS ANGELES, CA – This February, a new flavor is arriving to town and it’s bringing natural back. Just in time for Heart Health Month, Wonderful Pistachios announced a new addition to the Wonderful portfolio: Natural Raw Wonderful Pistachios. The newest flavor is the closest pistachio lovers can get to snacking straight from California pistachio orchards thanks to their no roasting, no salting naturalness.
“The ‘natural raw’ process maintains the raw properties of the pistachio nut that some of our consumers are looking for,” said Adam Cooper, Vice President of Marketing, in a press release. “In fact, consumers are showing an increased desire for raw nuts, with 62 percent of all nut buyers purchasing raw nuts in the past year. Among this group, nearly 80 percent expressed interest in buying Natural Raw Wonderful Pistachios. With this clear consumer in mind, Wonderful Pistachios Natural Raw was a natural extension to our portfolio.”
Bursting with a rich, crunchy, nutty flavor, the Natural Raw Wonderful Pistachios will be available in 16 ounce bags in local grocery stores beginning this February. A great way to add plant protein to daily diets, these new heart-healthy morsels are a great option for shoppers in more ways than one.
And for retailers looking to market the new flavor, the Wonderful Company is supporting the launch of Natural Raw Wonderful Pistachios with Digital, PR, and Marketing support including new high impact woodgrain POS displays that have been shown to help Wonderful Pistachios sell three times faster in store.
For more information on Wonderful Pistachios, please visit GetCrackin.com or Facebook.com/WonderfulPistachios.
For more on the latest in produce and grocery, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow.
BOISE, ID - After over 40 years with the retailer, Albertsons President and Chief Operating Officer Wayne Denningham announced plans to retire by the end of the company's fiscal year. The retailer has named Susan Morris Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer to take his place.
“Susan is a talented leader within our company, and she fully embraces our entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to running really good stores,” said Bob Miller, Chairman and CEO, in a company press release. “Susan raised her hand to come to Albertsons LLC in 2010 when she was a Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for a competitor, and she took the only job we had open—a Grocery Sales Manager in our Southwest Division. She has proven herself to be a valuable part of our leadership team in readily accepting new challenges, developing others and bringing teams together, and I know that her broad experience will be of significant value to Albertsons Companies as we move forward.”
In her new position, Morris will oversee the Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and Operations functions as well as continue to lead the Seattle, Portland, and Northern and Southern California divisions.
Morris's 30+ year career began in Albertsons Denver Division while she was still in high school. After proving she was capable of leading, executing, and cultivating great teams in assignment after assignment, Morris began to work her way up through the ranks and took on new roles like Store Director, Corporate Grocery Sales Director, Vice President of Bakery and Operations and, upon the sale of Albertson’s Inc.’s assets to SuperValu, Vice President of Customer Satisfaction. In 2013, Morris was named Intermountain Division President after a three-year stint in the company’s Southwest Division, and subsequently was asked to lead the Denver Division in 2015. Morris was named EVP, East Operations in April 2016 and was moved to lead West Region Operations in March 2017.
Jim Perkins, EVP Operations and Special Projects, will continue as President of the Acme and Eastern divisions; while Mike Withers, EVP East Region Operations, will lead the remaining six divisions, including Denver, Intermountain, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Southern, Southwest, and United.
For more on what's changing in grocery, keep checking back with AndNowUKnow.
WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that Cry Baby Foods LLC satisfied a reparation order issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).
The Royal City, Washington, company can continue operating in the produce industry upon applying for and being issued a PACA license. Kelsee L. Shearer and Aaron K. Shearer were listed as members of the business and may now be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee.
PACA provides an administrative forum to handle disputes involving produce transactions; this may result in a reparation order being issued that requires damages to be paid by those not meeting their contractual obligations in buying and selling fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables. USDA is required to impose sanctions on a business that fails to pay PACA reparations awarded against it as well as impose restrictions against those principals determined to be responsibly connected to the business when the order is issued. Those individuals, including sole proprietors, partners, members, managers, officers, directors or major stockholders may not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee without USDA-approval.
Once a reparation order is fully satisfied and it is confirmed that there are not any outstanding unpaid awards, USDA lifts the employment restrictions of the previously named, responsibly connected individuals. USDA also requires any unlicensed company that fully satisfies all unpaid reparation awards to obtain a license if it continues to operate in the industry.
In the past three years, USDA resolved approximately 3,400 PACA claims involving more than $58 million. PACA staff also assisted more than 8,500 callers with issues valued at approximately $151 million. These are just two examples of how the USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – It’s a truth universally acknowledged that two pioneering e-commerce companies joining forces will make headlines. And so the story goes with Instacart, a technology-driven, nationwide, on-demand grocery delivery service, who recently acquired Unata, an award-winning provider of 1-to-1 digital solutions for grocers. The new match seeks to strengthen and quicken the progressive online grocery shopping movement, as it combines clever teams, lively cultures, and advanced products.
"Instacart's mission has always been to be an independent partner to retailers and enable them to give their customers the best experiences using the best technology," said Apoorva Mehta, Founder and CEO of Instacart, in a recent press release. "This acquisition allows us to take that commitment to the next level. It represents a landmark win for retailers, who will benefit from Instacart's scale, Unata's highly-configurable technology, and the deep grocery industry integrations this acquisition will enable."
In an effort to create a one-stop-shop of sorts for brick-and-mortar retailers to compete in the burgeoning online grocery scene, Instacart’s acquisition of Unata will take on the latter’s white-label digital grocery platform, which will be strengthened by the former's technology and scale.
"Unata and Instacart have long shared a vision of innovating the grocery industry and building the online grocery shopping experience of the future," said Chris Bryson, CEO of Unata. "By combining the power of our teams and technologies, we can achieve this vision faster and for the first time ever offer a fully-comprehensive, configurable digital solution for grocery retailers of all sizes."
Unata will stay put in its Toronto headquarters and become an independent subsidiary of its new parent company, as it keeps its name and brand. Instacart, on the other hand, will be investing in the innovation and resources for both Unata and Instacart, while the two merge into one unified grocery industry-influencing platform. The acquisition transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
Chief Executive Officer for Unata, Chris Bryson, will now be reporting to Instacart’s Chief Business Officer, Nilam Ganenthiran. This is the next move in Instacart’s list of endeavors to take on the market, after recently expanding from 30 to over 190 markets in 2017 alone. In this next step, the company noted in its press release, Instacart is eager for its ideal partnership with Unata to expand its company’s technology bandwidth in 2018.
How will this new technologically-advanced partnership impact the industry at large? AndNowUKnow will continue to keep you up-to-date with the latest!
PHOENIX, AZ – Arizona growing season has kicked off with a bang for Pacific International Marketing. The produce provider is expanding on its conventional carrot offerings—with its new line of Arizona-grown organic carrots first introduced last year.
According to a company press release, Pacific International Marketing’s carrot program is operated in conjunction with Rousseau Farms—a partner who has been growing carrots in Arizona for almost forty years. The program started in early-January and will run through the end of May, with a lineup of conventional carrots including cello’s, baby peeled, shred, petites, and carrot chips—all marketed under the Rousseau label.
And beginning last year, Pacific International Marketing has expanded its carrot program to include organic baby peeled and organic cello’s, both marketed under the Pure Pacific label.
The company noted, in a press release, that Pacific International Marketing’s carrot program is one of more than 100 categories that the company is involved in growing, packing, shipping, and processing. Pacific International Marketing offers a complete line of organic and conventional fresh fruits and veggies and ships more than 25 million packages from the Western United States and Mexico every year.
For more fresh produce news, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow.
SALINAS, CA – Last year, Justin Timberlake made his debut into the produce industry after creating the iconic Braspberry, causing a frenzy of Instagram followers to say Bye Bye Bye to the old way of enjoying blueberries and raspberries. To continue the Braspberry craze and promote healthy eating, Naturipe Farms is encouraging berry fans to try the new fresh fruit variety snack and enter into the Naturipe Braspberry Sweepstakes for daily prizes and to support hurricane relief efforts.
“We are excited to promote Braspberries! It is a new delicious treat you get when pressing a plump, fresh blueberry into a fresh raspberry,” says CarrieAnn Arias, Vice President of Marketing, in a press release. “We cannot think of a better way to start the new year than by supporting our consumers’ desire to be creative with healthy snacking and supporting the communities still reeling from the effects of the recent hurricanes.”
Helping communities throughout Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Puerto Rico that were devastated in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, Naturipe calls on followers to try the new berry treat in an effort to donate up to $10,000 to help provide vital services to the victims in these communities.
To enter the sweepstakes, consumers are invited to share photos or videos that depict how they enjoy Braspberries on Facebook, Instagram, or Naturipe's website with the hashtags #Braspberry and #Entry. Naturipe will donate $1 to the Hand in Hand Hurricane Relief fund for every entry received. Those who share a photo or video will be automatically entered for a chance to win Naturipe’s daily drawing for a $10 iTunes gift card.
Starting on January 15th and ending on February 16th, Naturipe will announce a total of 33 winners–a winner for every day of the sweepstakes.
Ask yourself, WWJTD (What Would Justin Timberlake do?). Enjoy Braspberries til your heart’s content, and you might find yourself a Naturipe Braspberry Sweepstakes winner.
For more on what’s happening in the produce industry, keep checking back with AndNowUKnow.
SACRAMENTO, CA – Hope you’ve all been doing your finger exercises over the holidays, because the first Snack Contest of 2018 is here!
Whip out your copy of the December issue of The Snack Magazine, featuring a just-about-to-smooch pair of holiday fruits, and race to win $100 cash. If you haven’t yet received a copy, click here for the digital cover and try your luck.
Before you send:
- Are you pointing at the ANUK Apple Logo?
- Can we see your face?
If you can answer yes to both questions, the race is on. Leave friends and industry mates in your dust by emailing your photo to [email protected] and claim the $100 cash prize!
And remember, we select not one, but TWO winners: the first overall entry from the industry and the first buy-side member of the industry.
Join the ranks of previous winners like:
- Adam Donikian of Sobeys
- Dave Carrick of EarthFresh Foods
- Joe Soe of Sobeys
- Jennifer Velasquez of Golden Sun Marketing
- Kate Reeb of Veg-Fresh Farms
- Mimmo Franzone of Longo’s
- Scott Hakes of Ciruli Brothers
So snap your Snack and see who wins in tomorrow’s ANUK Newsletter.
Interested in receiving a copy of The Snack to give you a leg up in future challenges? Subscriptions are valued at $129 per year, click here to subscribe.
BENTONVILLE, AR - It has been a bit of a roller coaster in Walmart news over the past week. The latest shakeup is in its management and corporate divisions, where sources report shifting around of about 3,500 store co-managers, as well as up to 1,000 cuts of corporate jobs.
Late last week the retailer announced, almost simultaneously, the boost of wages to its employees under its traditional banner and the closure of more than 60 Sam’s Clubs across the nation.
Now, The Wall Street Journal reports that people familiar with the matter have disclosed plans to trim hundreds of jobs on the corporate level. Expected to be completed by the end of the company’s fiscal year on Jan. 31, the job cuts are expected to be broad based and focused on workers primarily at the company’s headquarters, according to the source.
Without confirming those job cuts were planned for this month, a spokesperson for the retailer told WSJ, “We’ve been looking at our structure for some time as we explore ways to operate more effectively.”
Additionally, a salaried role acting as what Bloomberg described as a “lieutenant underneath each store manager” employing about 3,500 will be removed. Instead, people familiar with the matter told the news source that Walmart is adding about 1,700 assistant store managers—a slightly lower-paid role—who will oversee fast-growing areas like online orders.
Those affected will be able to apply for other roles, and the purpose of the shakeup is said to boost efficiency, weed out poor performers, and create clearer paths to leadership.
With so much strategizing to start off 2018, AndNowUKnow will continue to keep an eye out for all the latest.