YERINGTON, NV - Two major players in the organic industry have set the ribbon-cutting ceremony date to celebrate their new facility. The Nunes Company and Peri & Sons Farms have announced the new Walker River Cooling facility event will take place in Yerington, Nevada, at Peri & Sons Farms on Tuesday, August 29, 2017.
“It is refreshing to work with a state that appreciates the agricultural industry. We would like to give a special thanks to the state of Nevada, Governor Sandoval, Lyon County, the City of Yerington, NV, and all of the regulatory agencies that have worked with the Nunes and Peri families to help make this happen,” said Tom Nunes, IV, President of The Nunes Company.
The new facility, designed to provide efficiencies in the cooling and distribution of the produce, was opened in mid-May 2017. This facility will allow the companies to grow, pack, and directly ship produce more expediently.
“The completion of Walker River Cooling brings our operations full circle here in Yerington as every aspect of farming produce―from growing and packing the organics to distribution all across the country―happens right here in Mason Valley,” said David Peri, President of Peri & Sons Farms. “Thanks to the shared vision and partnership with The Nunes Company, we have positioned our operations for continued growth and expansion to meet the demands of the marketplace.”
Peri & Sons Farms and The Nunes Company will be joined by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, as well as federal, state, and community leaders to celebrate the grand opening of the Walker River Cooling facility. Featured speakers include Governor Sandoval; David Peri, Founder and President of Peri & Sons Farms; and Tom Nunes, V, Vice-President of Operations at The Nunes Company.
Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval said of the opening, “The joint-venture behind Walker River Cooling is a symbol of true entrepreneurship, economic development and innovation right here in the heart of Nevada. As the only commercial Nevada growers with a facility of this kind in the state, these two family-owned and operated businesses have demonstrated their commitment to the industry through their leadership and vision for agriculture and its potential while meeting the demands of the marketplace. I’m proud to welcome this new facility to the Nevada family and its positive impact it will have in our State.”
For more on the latest fresh produce facility openings and logistics strategy, check in with AndNowUKnow.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Looking outside it might not feel like fall is right around the corner, but seeing what tasty potato recipes are in store for Fresh Solutions Network in the next few months it's hard not to wish I could press fast forward. Fresh Solutions Network has a cornucopia of fall promotions in the works for its Side Delights® brand, perfectly designed for shoppers who will be cooking and entertaining during this busy food-centric season.
“Shoppers are always looking for recipes for seasonal occasions, especially during the fall with Halloween and Thanksgiving kicking off the holidays,” said Kathleen Triou, President and CEO.
Thanksgiving is obviously one of the biggest fall holidays for food, and, according to the NPD group, the potato is the most commonly served item at Thanksgiving meals in the U.S. Fresh Solutions Network also noted that in the coming months, 69 percent of Americans plan to celebrate Halloween, while one-third of Americans plan to throw or attend a Halloween party.
So, how can retailers pull in those potato-hungry shoppers to their displays? According to a press release, Side Delights’ monthly themed merchandisers and coordinating point-of-purchase signs will attract shoppers and increase retail potato sales.
Side Delights 2017 program features the following monthly promotions:
- September: “Dinner in 23 Minutes. Seriously!” Back to school recipe promotion
- October: “So Good It's Scary” Halloween promotion
- November: “Mash It Like You Mean It” Thanksgiving promotion
And it's not just the holidays that have consumers’ stomaches growling for potatoes. This year, Side Delights® has also added a Baseball/World Series promotion to capture those looking to entertain around sporting events at games and at home. According to Nielsen, the World Series was the 4th most watched television show in 2016, with over 40 million viewers, making it another prime reason for shoppers to get creative with their potato recipes.
“This year, in addition to the traditional holidays, we are excited to launch our baseball season and World Series promotion–a great option for cities with teams in the play-offs, or any place where people get together to celebrate and watch the games,” added Triou. “Side Delights seasonal programming increases sales for America’s #1 favorite vegetable all year long.”
Are you hungry yet? Check out www.sidedelights.com to learn more about Fresh Solutions Network’s entire line of convenient potato products.
SALINAS, CA - As Labor Day approaches, the time of those patriotic-colored berry displays is nearing. California Giant Berry Farms advises that retailers particularly maintain display space and offer a variety of berries for those cookouts, berry cocktails, appetizers, and other popular options for long weekend celebrations.
You will have the berries to back you up in way of blueberries and blackberries especially. According to the company’s most recent crop evaluation, blues are looking excellent while blackberries are in the middle of their peak for the Salinas, CA, season and should see steady volume throughout September.
Raspberries are winding down in the region, but if you’re still looking for the “red” in your red, white, and blues, organic strawberries are looking very good coming out of Santa Maria, CA, with full color and counts at 24-26, California Giant noted.
“We also have a lot of strawberries now and will for the next few months,” Vice President of Marketing Cindy Jewell shared with me. “Our Watsonville fields will produce consistent volume as long as this great weather continues. We are getting foggy mornings and sunny afternoons every day which helps to maintain production.”
The company’s organic strawberry fall harvest is slated for the first or second week of September, and is looking to bear lots of fruit, peaking in late October.
While weather has presented a few humps, it's labor challenges that present a main concern, the company said.
“Labor is definitely tight, so it’s a constant challenge to keep the fields clean and stay on a three-day harvest rotation,” Cindy confirmed. “All the more reason we all need to be unified in our message to legislators considering immigration reform. Now more than ever we need to express our voices and concerns in Washington, so I plan to attend the Washington Conference next month.”
The company’s recent release noted that pickers are falling behind the first part of the week, saying “we foresee this industry-wide labor issue worsening as the week’s progress,” touching on a continued trial throughout the industry as harvest practices, technologies, and resources look to evolve.
Despite this hurdle, demand looks promising as more and more holiday recipes explore the versatility of berries. For ideas to inspire shoppers, visit the company’s recipe suggestions here.
BENTONVILLE, AR & MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - Watch out Alexa—Google and Walmart are brewing up some stiff competition for the voice-controlled speaker Amazon has been pushing since late 2014. Teaming up to make hundreds of thousands of Walmart products available to purchase through the Google Home voice-controlled speaker, the duo have slated the project to take root as early as next month.
“Our new voice shopping capability, coupled with our core value proposition, including free two-day shipping and the Pickup Discount, will give our customers a compelling new way to get what they need at low prices,” said President and CEO of Walmart U.S. eCommerce, Marc Lore in a statement. “We will continue to focus on creating new opportunities to simplify people’s lives and help them shop in ways they’ve not yet imagined.”
According to Walmart, the company views this as primarily an easy way to build a basket of previously purchased everyday essentials. Achieved by integrating Walmart’s Easy Reorder feature into Google Express, the goal is to offer a highly personalized shopping experience based on customers’ previous purchases, both in store and online.
Next year, however, the techy duo will be taking on fresh grocery, according to Recode. Leveraging its 4,700 U.S. stores and giant fulfillment network, Walmart will allow customers to pick up orders of all groceries, including fresh produce, in store and often at a discount through Google home.
“When it comes to voice shopping, we want to make it as easy as possible for our customers. That’s why it makes sense for us to team up with Google,” continued Lore. “They’ve made significant investments in natural language processing and artificial intelligence to deliver a powerful voice shopping experience. We know this means being compared side-by-side with other retailers, and we think that’s the way it should be. An open and transparent shopping universe is good for customers.”
Google first introduced voice shopping to Google Home earlier this year with partner retailers like Costco, Walgreens, and PetSmart, according to Recode, in what looked like to many a clear effort to combat Amazon’s longstanding stronghold of voice ordering technology.
And this isn’t Google’s first attempt to take on Amazon either. Recode reports that Google has found itself competing more closely with Amazon as shoppers increasingly turn to the e-commerce giant in lieu of a traditional search engine, costing Google substantial ad dollars.
With Google joining Walmart’s side in the increasingly cutthroat grocery wars, will Amazon be able to stay at the forefront of the competition? AndNowUKnow will continue to report.
SALINAS, CA – As the next wave of industry leaders and consumers arm themselves with education and knowledge, Taylor Farms is continuing its own investment in the possibilities of today’s youth. The company recently held its seventh annual backpack giveaway program, providing student with needed school supplies.
“Our team members at Taylor Farms enjoy the opportunity to help give young students some of the tools they need to study for a bright future,” said Bruce Taylor, Chairman and CEO.
Taylor Farms partnered with the Golden State Foods Foundation in order to provide backpacks and supplies to first grade students at five elementary schools in Salinas and Gonzales, CA. According to a press release, the backpacks were donated to students at the following schools:
- Roosevelt
- Los Padres
- Frank Paul
- La Gloria
- Alisal Community
Taylor Farms distributed 880 backpacks to local elementary school students. To further benefit this year’s students, the company’s program has also expanded its back-to-school giving to also include children of company employees, donating an additional 2,000 backpacks to the children of its employees.
“We have always known about Taylor Farms’ history of supporting local school children and were absolutely thrilled when we found out the backpack program had expanded to include our school this year,” said Yolanda Barba, Principal of La Gloria Elementary School. “The donation makes such an impact on our students' back-to-school experience and we look forward to many more years of partnership with Taylor Farms.”
Taylor Farms noted that this program in particular is a company-wide favorite that involves its employees from start to finish. Employees participate at every step of the giveaway, from filling each backpack with supplies, to handing them out to students during their first week of school.
To date, Taylor Farms has provided over 9,500 backpacks to students between its internal backpack giveaway program and its partnership with GSF Foundation.
WENATCHEE, WA - The latest variety to Stemilt’s lineup, Rave™ was introduced to the Big Apple last Thursday evening when the family-owned company hosted a dinner event for 40 noteworthies in journalism. The Rave apple brought attendees to the table, including representatives from O, The Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Family Circle, and multiple Yelp Elites.
“We are ecstatic to have this opportunity to share Rave with numerous influential journalists,” stated Communications Manager Brianna Shales. “We are excited to rave about this unique variety and what better way to begin introducing it to the world than with a Rave-inspired dinner in the Big Apple.”
The Rave-inspired dinner was held in Midtown and featured Rave apples in fresh applications, as the exceptionally juicy variety is less suitable for baking and cooking. Chef Matt Walker created savory and spicy hors d'oeuvres, a chopped Rave apple salad and celery-apple gazpacho, plus three entrees and an apple beignet for dessert. Attendees learned more about Stemilt and the unique qualities of Rave throughout the evening.
“The apple lived up to its name and received rave reviews from everyone who attended. Although we have limited supplies this year, we believe it’s important to share Rave with food media to build momentum for years to come,” said Shales. “Telling Rave’s story through events like this one is just one of the many ways that Stemilt builds a foundation for its new proprietary varieties.”
Stemilt is well-known for building strong foundations for its numerous brands. The company encourages transparency through storytelling and engaging consumer interest. In fact, the Center for Food Integrity conducted a study in 2015 that displayed consumers want transparency when it comes to food product labeling and ingredients. They also want businesses to be transparent about their practices.
“We have been very transparent with consumers about how our products come to be–through natural cross-pollination and many years of hard work with the best researchers in the country,” said Shales. “We work hard to build up these brands, like Rave apples, so when consumers see Rave and other Stemilt products in store, they know they are getting the best.”
Rave is the result of natural cross-pollination between the Honeycrisp and MonArk varieties. Rave is an extremely juicy apple with a refreshing crunch and has an outrageously snappy zing. Rave gets its bright, fuchsia-like coloring from summer heat, allowing it to ripen and harvest before any other apple in Washington State. Rave apples will be in stores for a short time in select stores this season, but that will grow significantly as the crop multiples in years to come.
NEW YORK, NY – After a less-than-spectacular Initial Public Offering, perhaps marred by bad timing, and the subsequent two months that have seen the company’s stock decline precipitously, a group of Blue Apron investors has filed suit against the company.
The class action lawsuit, filed by Bragar Eagel & Squire on behalf of a group of investors, was announced last weekend in a press release from the law firm.
According to the press release, the complaint alleges that Blue Apron’s Registration Statement in connection with the IPO failed to disclose a number of significant items. The complaint alleges that Blue Apron failed to disclose plans to significantly reduce spending on advertising in Q2 2017, hurting sales and profit margins in future quarters. The suit also alleges that Blue Apron neglected to note that the company was experiencing difficulty with customer retention due to orders not arriving on time or with all expected ingredients, and that the company was experiencing delayed orders in Q2 2017 related to its new factory in Linden, New Jersey.
Since its IPO, the law firm notes, Blue Apron shares have fallen $4.70, or 47 percent, to close at $5.30 per share on August 18, 2017.
This isn’t the first time investors have explored the potential of filing suit against the meal kit provider. As early as late-July, we reported that some law firms and shareholder groups were exploring the possibility of filing suit for breach of fiduciary duty. In fact, Grub Street reports, as many as four separate class action suits are currently underway, all making nearly identical allegations.
Recently, Blue Apron has made a number of efforts to trim costs and continue its growth strategies. AndNowUKnow will continue to report.
NEW YORK, NY - In the next segment of Blue Apron’s post-IPO saga, the company’s Vice President of Human Resources and Talent, Kate Muzzatti, has stepped down, according to a report by TechCrunch.
The news was released internally on August 10, the same day that the company announced a hiring freeze on salaried positions, according to Bloomberg. Rounding out the triad of uncertain news, Blue Apron also let go of 14 members of its recruiting team.
“As part of our long-term strategy, we recently completed an internal reorganization which involved several changes to our organizational structure, including the creation of our new consumer products team and the launch of a new fulfillment center team in Linden, which will replace our prior center in Jersey City,” Blue Apron CEO Matt Salzberg said in a statement to TechCrunch. “As part of these changes, we temporarily paused hiring for certain positions, while keeping others open, for the duration of our 2018 resource allocation process. As a result, we implemented a small reduction in staff on our recruiting team. Like any company, we carefully assess ourselves on a regular basis and implement changes as needed to manage our business for the future.”
This news comes closely after last week's reveal of Jana Partners' potential stake in the company, which caused an uptick in Blue Apron share prices, resulting in a much needed reprieve from a series of challenges the company has faced in recent months.
How will this shift in strategy impact the company's future endeavors? Check back with AndNowUKnow as we continue to report.
NEW ZEALAND – With a new season of product comes new opportunities for produce thieves to flex their innovative muscles of crime, or so it seems in New Zealand. The country’s avocado crime wave has returned to plague officials, this time with a social media twist.
As we previously reported, New Zealand made headlines last year when the “avocado crime wave” was born. Sparked from high market prices and even higher demand, thieves are again looking to tap in on black market cash by performing dozens of nighttime raids on avocado orchards across the country.
This year, officials told the Irish Times that the crime wave has escalated since last. In addition, thieves are now turning to Facebook as the medium for selling the stolen green goods rather than last year's method of taking the purloined fruit to small shops or pop-up fruit stalls.
The latest span of avocado pilfering began this July. Growers, understandably incensed at the transgressions, have decided to take matters into their own hands this year with some chasing spotted criminals across their property. The thieves have been reported as raking the crop from the trees, or collecting fallen goods in blankets and sleeping bags before whisking them away.
“Orchardists have been a lot more vigilant because of last year,” said Sgt. Trevor Brown of Western Bay of Plenty. “We are seeing thefts on a commercial scale. We are seeing thousands of dollars of fruit stolen in a single hit and people’s livelihoods are getting ruined…it is not like just stealing a couple of mandarins off your neighbours tree; we take it very seriously.”
However, as the thieves have upped their ante this year, so have officials. As police have begun patrolling fruit shops in-person this year and inquiring on sales and suppliers, officials have received multiple reports that thieves are now using Facebook to push the goods, with some who "may look more respectable" posing as orchard owners, as well.
“From a positive perspective the criminals might be taking to social media because the ability to drive up to a road-side stall and sell a crate of avocados on the sly for $50 has got harder this season,” said Jen Scoular, CEO of New Zealand Avocado.
Experts noted that incentive for the continuing crime wave has been strong, as off-season avocado prices peaked at NZ $7.50 (USD $5.46) with demand remaining high through the country. Irish Times noted that the country’s growth in the category has also increased over the years, from NZ $70 million in 2013 (about USD $50 million) to NZ $198 million (about USD $144 million) this year. The country also reported its highest-ever value this year, with a record number of 7.7 million avocado trays produced.
New Zealand’s avocado runs from August to March, with the country utilizing no avocado imports. New Zealand does export its goods to countries throughout the globe, making the category its third largest fresh fruit export.
With no proverbial dam to this floodgate of thefts, no word has been released on how officials are planning to circumvent these avo bandits’ use of Facebook to pursue their enterprise.
NOGALES, AZ - It’s that time again produce fans, the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA) is once again holding its Annual Fall Nogales Fresh Produce Convention and Golf Tournament, and I, for one, can’t wait. A personal favorite reason of mine to head down south to Nogales, this marks the 49th annual meeting of the minds behind FPAA, taking place from Thursday, November 2 to Saturday, November 4 at the Tubac Golf Resort.
Each year, the FPAA Convention is a celebration of the kick off for another season of fresh produce entering the United States from Mexico through the port of Nogales, and will include a myriad of opportunities to talk about the issues that matter most to these key member’s of the industry. Of course, this means NAFTA will be at the top of the list of hot topics attendees will be raring to discuss, and FPAA will be hosting a panel discussion to delve deeper into the topic.
“One of the biggest topics of this time is NAFTA,” Lance Jungmeyer, the Association’s President tells me. “Our panel will lay bare how U.S. consumers have improved their quality of life and health because of the improved year-round availability of fresh produce since NAFTA. We have to recognize the enormous benefits to society because of this trade agreement.”
Along with Thursday’s keynote by Vice President of Fresh Foods at the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Rick Stein, which will be focused on the company’s yearly Power of Produce Study, FPAA’s educational opportunities run the gamut of industry-specific topics, including a session from our own CEO Robert Lambert on “WOW” in innovations for the fresh produce industry. Additional highlights include James Martin’s presentation: Wilson Produce and The Past, Present, and Future of One of the Industries Oldest and Most Influential Companies; as well as a consumer-focused discussion on What Moms Think of Mexican Produce, presented by The Produce Mom herself, Lori Taylor.
And those who come to Nogales in search of FPAA’s always lively parties can catch the first opportunity on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. for the Opening Fiesta. And in proper Mexican fashion, the convention also leaves off with a party, the FPAA’s Gala event and “Pillars of the FPAA” awards ceremony, where recognition will be given to those who have volunteered their time and effort to the industry, as well as demonstrated innovation and integrity throughout their career.
Other fun elements to this year’s event include:
- Friday’s helicopter rides over the warehouse district, the Mariposa Port of Entry, and the Observatory in the Santa Rita mountains
- Friday’s second annual Mexican Produce Culinary Showcase
- Friday and Saturday’s golf tournament
For additional information on this year’s event, including a where to purchase tickets, visit www.eventbrite.com/e/49th-nogales-produce-convention-and-golf-tournament-tickets-36842608233 or contact the FPAA office at (520) 287-2707.