LOXAHATCHEE, FL – J&J Family of Farms has a big show planned for the upcoming Southern Exposure Conference & Expo in Hollywood, Florida, including a virtual behind the scenes look at its operations and new packaging designs.
As one of the four farms featured in the Southeast Produce Council’s inaugural video series, Fresh from the Farm Field Trips, J&J Family of Farms will take attendees on a virtual tour to its farms to educate and highlight the company’s commitment to its customers.
“We are thankful and excited to be part of this new educational session,” said Lynn Rundle, CEO. “We are looking forward to the opportunity to illustrate our growing, packing, and shipping processes that help us achieve our Customer Driven vision.”
J&J Family of Farms manages over 14,000 acres of production from its own farms and partners, according to a press release. The company has operations in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, Arizona, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.
Visitors at booth #907 will also have an opportunity to see J&J Family of Farms’ new packaging designs for its salad cucumbers and bell peppers. The new packaging builds on the company’s new tagline, The Art of Farming is Family Tradition.
“Farming has been in the J&J family for generations, and our company’s success today is firmly built on that tradition,” said Chris Coffman, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Strategy. “With a clean look and modern design, our new packaging communicates the foundation upon which J&J Family of Farms was built that ensures a quality, farm-fresh product shoppers can expect when purchasing our produce.”
The 2016 Southern Exposure will take place March 3-5 at the Diplomat Resort and Spa in Hollywood, Florida. Don’t forget to add booth #907 to your list of companies to visit to catch J&J Family of Farms’ new packaging and more!
SALINAS, CA — Produce veteran Vince Ballesteros has taken his experience to found year-round produce supplier River Fresh Farms, a provider of high-demand products to produce customers.
“We’re re-thinking the supply chain in the way we do business, since each customer has unique needs,” Vince said in a press release.
Now the CEO of the company, Vince has focused 25 years of agricultural expertise into the Salinas Valley to create a company that will now source the produce from a global family of multi-generational farmers, according to the release.
“We’re building a dedicated family of growers across the globe who are passionate about their land and their crops. We’re also providing produce buyers with direct access to these family farms,” Vince added.
Most recently Director of Business Development and Logistics at Church Brothers, Vince specializes in coordinated logistics, including helping produce buyers consolidate orders, leverage volume LTL and FTL shipping to reduce costs, as well as get faster delivery to help reduce shrink.
“The changing marketplace for produce poses unique challenges, with year-round consumer demand, changing trends, environmental regulations and varied climatic conditions. Retail and foodservice customers need consistent, high-quality products that are priced competitively,” said Vince. “That’s why we’re here. We efficiently distribute the freshest products you can find, straight from the source.”
In addition to providing year-round availability and single-source supply for both conventional and organic produce, River Fresh Farms also provides:
- Sales
- Marketing
- Customized supply chain logistics
- Consolidated shipping for the produce
With the direct link between growers and buyers, River Fresh Farms is a grower-shipper company that looks to offer both flexibility and responsiveness to produce customers.
WATSONVILLE, CA – Tour de Fresh is returning again for its third year with fresh, exciting opportunities for the industry to get involved.
New to this year’s event, Tour de Fresh, presented by The California Giant Foundation and supporting Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools, will now offer sponsorship packages for the fresh produce industry and other industries as well. The goal remains the same, however – raise at least $175,000 and donate more than 55 salad bars to schools across the U.S.
Sponsorship packages offer companies five to ten months of marketing opportunities and media exposure, along with customized benefits based on sponsorship level, according to a press release.
“We’ve been able to set the bar higher each year because we’ve seen substantial growth in support, participants, and media attention, fueled by the need for more fruits and vegetable options in our schools,” said Cindy Jewell, Vice President of Marketing for California Giant Berry Farms. “Our steering committee is thrilled to see the Tour expand in both participation and number of events in 2016 with new sponsorship and marketing opportunities – ultimately benefiting dozens more schools and providing terrific exposure for event sponsors and participants.”
Click the green button below for more details about available sponsorship packages, and join fellow sponsors AndNowUKnow, California Giant Berry Farms, Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Hort Americas, Pajaro Valley Fresh, Tanimura & Antle, and Tsamma, for this one-of-a-kind opportunity.
See Tour de Fresh 2016 Sponsorship Packages
“I feel very fortunate to have participated in Tour de Fresh the last two years,” said Helena Beckett of Tanimura & Antle. “Our team believes wholeheartedly in providing salad bars for schools, and the culture of our company lends itself perfectly to an event like Tour de Fresh where we can rally together for a great cause, while earning exposure for our industry.”
This year’s cycling event will begin July 26 in Napa Valley and end on July 28 in Monterey, California, leading up to the PMA Foodservice Conference.
In addition, there will be a second, one-day, 100k ride in Dallas/Fort Worth tentatively scheduled for October 1, 2016. This event will also benefit the salad bar cause and will serve as a model for more regional Tour de Fresh events.
See you on the course, racers!
MIAMI, FL - Harvest Sensations has announced its new 37,000-square-foot Miami, Florida, facility is officially open for business.
“With the addition of our new Miami location, we can now service customers and growers from the United States and beyond,” explained Harvest Sensations President, Doug Ranno. “Our new, full-service facility and offices will allow Harvest Sensations Miami to expand further into organics, specialties and retail herbs while growing into new innovative retail packs of asparagus and other value added products.”
Joining its 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in Los Angeles, CA, Harvest Sensations’ new facility will be able to service customers there with its year-round asparagus, snow peas, sugar snap peas, beans, value added organic kale products, organic products, and specialties from across the world.
In the company's statement, Harvest Sensations' Vice President of Operations, Eduardo Campos added, “We have put every detail and available innovation into this amazing facility. We are proud and excited to make this new facility available to our customers and suppliers.”
Both Harvest Sensations facilities offer forced air cooling, storage, shipping, consolidation, processing, repacking, and local market logistics services, according to a press release.
The company brings to market fresh retail and fresh food service produce products under the Harvest Sensations and Fresh Specialties brands, along with other premium quality brands from farms all around the world.
EARTH CITY, MO – Ritchie L. Casteel, the President of Supervalu-owned Save-A-Lot, will be ending his employment with the grocery chain on March 11, 2016.
Supervalu, which made the announcement in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, February 29, said that it does not intend to hire a replacement. No other information was given regarding Casteel’s departure from the company.
According to the filing, Casteel will be eligible for severance benefits in accordance with Supervalu’s Executive & Officer Severance Pay Plan. As described in Supervalu’s proxy statement, Casteel could receive up to $1.29 million for termination without cause.
Casteel has worked in the food retailing business for over 40 years, beginning his career as a courtesy clerk for Albertsons’ Southern California Division. Over the next 33 years, he was promoted to various positions of increasing responsibility in areas of merchandising and operations, including Vice President of Operations for Albertsons’ Intermountain West Division.
Prior to joining Save-A-Lot in 2013, Casteel also worked for Associated Retail Stores, ShopKo, and Grocery Outlet.
As we previously reported, Supervalu is currently exploring strategic options for its Save-A-Lot chain, including possibly spinning off the business as a publicly-traded company.
As of September 12, 2015, Save-A-Lot’s store and distribution network encompasses over 1,300 corporate and licensed stores in 38 states, the Caribbean and Central America, and 17 wholesale distribution centers.
FRESNO, CA - While Crown Jewels Produce Company may be known for its Mexican vegetable program, company President Rob Mathias and Partner Atomic Torosian are excited to announce the start of their 2016 California Summer Melon Program.
Already having been deeply rooted in cantaloupe and honeydew sales their entire produce careers, both Rob and Atomic say they're ready to start working out of "The Westside" of California working with S&S Ranch.
"Crown Jewels was absent from a large Cantaloupe deal during the 2015 season but is now back with a major deal to kick off the summer melon season in early July," Atomic tells me. "We are looking forward on marketing under the ‘Crown Jewels’ label and expect approximately 2 million boxes of cantaloupes and a half a million boxes of Honeydews this summer."
Spearheaded by Martin Ramos, Senior Manager of Quality Assurance, who will be overseeing all daily operations, Crown Jewels expects the new melon deal to keep the company balanced with its grapes, pears, apples, and pomegranate grower programs.
"With the addition of this new melon deal, it helps fill the gaps for the entire year with melons from Mexico in the spring and fall and melons from California throughout the summer months," Atomic adds.
After celebrating Crown Jewels’ 25th Anniversary this past season, the company is continuing to push the boundaries as a diversified grower, packer, and shipper. Expect the company to continue to evolve its year-round supplies of important produce items, and expect AndNowUKnow to report on it every step of the way.
ROSEMONT, IL - US Foods is keeping the growth momentum going with its latest acquisition, targeting New England-based wholesale distributor, Cara Donna Provision Co..
“We see many similarities between US Foods and Cara Donna, most important of which is the hunger for bringing value to its customers,” said Joe Cara Donna III, Executive Vice President, Cara Donna. “With the size and scale of the company, our customers will now have access to additional products and business solutions.”
Family-owned for three generations, food distributor Cara Donna serves approximately 1,300 customers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, and Connecticut, a press release states.
According to the company, Cara Donna’s Braintree, Massachusetts location will remain in operations through the summer to ensure a smooth transition, after which production will shift to the US Foods facility in Seabrook, New Hampshire and Norwich, Connecticut.
The transaction is expected to close on March 4, though the terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
GUADALUPE, CA – Starting in March, Apio will convert all products sold under its GreenLine® brand to its Eat Smart® brand. The transition is expected to be completed by August 2016.
“Our decision to convert our bean products to the Eat Smart brand in retail stores is being driven by both the favorable results from our online marketing and social networking programs and requests from our customers to deliver all our products under the Eat Smart brand,” said Anne Byerly, Vice President of Innovation and Marketing.
The GreenLine label will continue to be used in foodservice, as it is “highly recognized and valued by foodservice operators,” the company said in a press release.
Apio’s acquisition of GreenLine in April 2012 has helped grow its market share of the total value added vegetable category to 24% in North America.
“We recently completed our second online consumer and social marketing program in the last 12 months which was focused on Eat Smart branded products,” Byerly continued. “This geo-targeted program was conducted for a three month period in the Eastern United States and Canada and delivered a 21% sales lift in retail grocery, repeating the results that we experienced during the first program. In addition, major customers have requested that we merge the two product offerings under Eat Smart to deliver a more consistent on-shelf experience.”
The fresh-cut provider said that it will continue to focus on innovating new Eat Smart products that are healthy, delicious, and convenient.
KINGSVILLE, ON - With the completion of the 11-acre expansion to its new Pepperco USA greenhouse facility, SUNSET® has already started the harvest of peppers mid-winter in February.
Located in Coldwater, Michigan, the now 41-acre greenhouse is in its second year of harvesting local sweet bell peppers, with the first crop of U.S. peppers harvesting last week.
“Pepperco USA is the first U.S. large-scale pepper greenhouse,” shared CEO Paul Mastronardi in a press release. “The ability to grow local sweet bell peppers at this time of the year is pretty remarkable, and we’re thrilled for the opportunity to provide eager consumers with reliable, local flavor.”
This isn’t SUNSET®’s first foray into winter production either—the greenhouse company has been growing its flavor-packed, Michigan-grown tomatoes year round for more than four years now on the company’s 60-acre tomato range.
Also grown at the Coldwater facility are the award-winning SUNSET® Flavor Bombs™, which the company refers to as the sweetest tomato out there. Anticipating an expansion on the horizon, SUNSET® says Flavor Bombs™ have been a huge success since they were first introduced.
Also working with the trend of local Michigan produce for SUNSET®—the company’s second season of WOW™ berries production. An acronym for Wonders of Winter™, these Michigan grown strawberries taste as sweet as summer.
“We’ve trialed greenhouse strawberries for almost ten years,” added Mastronardi. “We wanted to ensure that our winter berries would be consistently flavorful and just as sweet as local summer berries.”
With the Coldwater facility’s strategic location, SUNSET® is able to harvest, pack, and ship its local produce in just one day’s time. The company says it is continuing to expand, and will be announcing its next project this year.
For more information on SUNSET® and its products, join them at SEPC booth #901.
RANCHO CORDOVA, CA – Renaissance Food Group (RFG) is capitalizing on the cold-pressed juice trend by launching a new Juicing Kit for retail and foodservice.
The Juicing Kit, which will be unveiled at this year’s Southern Exposure in Hollywood, Florida, at booth #817, will be offered in seven different flavors and include a variety of custom fruit and vegetable blends. Each kit makes one 8-oz. cup of fresh juice, according to a press release.
Juicing Kits in foodservice trays, on the other hand, are available in four different varieties. Each foodservice kit makes eight 16 oz. cups or bottles of juice. The trays are intended to make in-house juicing easy and cost effective, with minimal waste and labor.
“The demand for cold-pressed juice is growing rapidly as consumers are more attune to the health benefits of including fresh fruits and vegetables into the daily diet,” said Raina Nelson, RFG’s Vice President of Sales and current SEPC Board Member. “Southern Exposure is the perfect event to introduce this great item, as many key retailers will be in attendance, looking for the newest, most innovative items to put on their shelves.”
RFG said that the unique, colorful Garden Highway brand labels add value to the product by drawing consumer attention. The kits also included back-label instructions to pair with greens.
Are you attending Southern Exposure? Don’t miss these new Juicing Kits at RFG’s booth #817.