LOS ALAMITOS, CA - Unless you’ve been living on another planet (and even probably then) you must know that the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens is right around the corner. You might have your tickets and your plans all ready to rock, but do your consumers have the perfectly themed snacks to celebrate with? No worries—Frieda’s Specialty Produce has your back, sharing a few intergalactic tips from your local produce department.
1. Starfruit
What would a Star Wars theme be without Starfruit? You can slice the fruit crosswise and serve fresh, make starfruit upside down cake, or make guests choose between the Dark and Light sides by dipping slices into dark and white chocolate.
2. Kiwano®
How do you think Darth Maul would feel if he knew his twin was a tasty, golden horned melon? Relations or not, Frieda’s says the Kiwano is alien-looking enough to be perfect for any Star Wars party. You can even eat the Kiwano skin and all if you use a vegetable peeler to trim off the spikes, slice into rounds (or cut down the middle like Darth Maul) and serve with a sprinkle of sea salt. A squeeze of Meyer Lemon also brings out a completely different flavor profile for this odd fruit, the company shared.
And for the adults at the party, the Kiwano’s electric green pulp also makes great Mos Eisley-esque cocktails like Toxic Slush Margarita or a Rum Martini served in the shell.
3. Icicle Radish
Want a delicious way recreate the Wampa cave scene? With these spicy, pure white radishes, you can nestle your Hoth Luke action figure or a mini Lightsaber on the platter, and serve with a snowy white dip or whipped butter, Frieda’s suggests.
4. Black Garlic and Elephant Garlic
Have you chosen your side yet? Put guests to the test with the Dark with umami-tastic Black Garlic Spread or the Light with sweet Roasted Elephant Garlic. Frieda’s offers the idea of splitting the platter down the middle with crostini or crackers, and letting your guests choose their own tasty side of the Force.
There you go! Like you didn’t already have enough reasons to be excited for the big premiere. And to Star Wars fans everywhere, let the force be with you in the produce aisle.
Kristin Yerecic is an up-and-comer that has been working in family-owned and operated Yerecic Label since she was 15 years old. Now, climbing up through the ranks, Kristin is bringing Yerecic’s visibility and marketing department to a whole new level. From Tsamma Watermelon Juice to Modern Family, our sister publication, The Snack Magazine, asked Kristin to take a few minutes and let us in on some of her favorite things.
Check out the full article in The Snack magazine by clicking here, or continue reading the full piece below.
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My Favorite Things: Kristin Yerecic
1. My Family Legacy
"I'm honored to be a third generation Yerecic in the family business."
2. Frozen Grapes
"Throwing your grapes in the freezer creates a quick, delicious and refreshing snack."
3. Lifecake App
"This app lets me shamelessly show off my nephews without blowing up my Facebook feed or Instagram."
4. Tsamma Juice
"Frey Farm's new Watermelon Juice has me on the bandwagon!"
5. Emerald Isle, North Carolina
"North Carolina offers the perfect place for some R&R."
6. Youtility by Jay Baer
"This book significantly altered my view of marketing and is a constant reference for long-term goals for me."
7. Competitive Cheerleading
"I wanted to give back to the sport that taught me so much and now I coach at my high school alma mater."
8. Modern Family
"I can always count on the Dunphy family for a good laugh!"
9. Crockpots
"I love to cook, but who has the time for a three course meal each night?!"
To keep up on the quirks that make up the current and future influencers of the industry, keep following The Snack Magazine.
RICHMOND, VA - Virginia is about to get four more Aldi locations, rapidly taking the number of Richmond area stores from just five, to nine.
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Aldi is taking on an already competitive grocery market with the move further into Richmond. Retailers including Wal-Mart’s Neighborhood Market, Food Lion, Kroger, and Martin’s Food Markets are among those already in the area.
“We respond to customer demand,” Jeffrey C. Baehr, Vice President of the Aldi’s Frederick, Md., Division, said in the Richmond Times-Dispatch report, commenting that while the company carries fewer items than competing stores in the area at only 1,300 items, “These are the 1,300 best-selling grocery items.”
Just last week, Aldi opened a location at 7319 Forest Hill Ave store, joining the chain’s stores at 1776 N. Parham Road, at the Staples Mill Square shopping center at 8951 Staples Mill Road, at 7003 Mechanicsville Turnpike in the Hanover Square shopping center in Hanover County, and 465 Charles H. Dimmock Parkway in Colonial Heights near Southpark Mall.
Next on the agenda for the “no-frills” German chain is four new locations, with Baehr confirming to the Richmond Times-Dispatch that shoppers can expect at least three of these to be up-and-running by the first half of 2016.
First will be a 21,000 square-foot section of a building at 6291 W. Broad St., which is currently anchored by Burlington Coat Factory and an Office Max, followed by stores at 927 Myers St. and at Robious Road and Mall Drive in Chesterfield County. Aldi has also recently purchased a 2.2-acre tract of land at the Broad Hill Centre mixed-use development, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
As we previously reported, Aldi has announced its intention to expand its 1,400 U.S. locations to 2,000 by 2018, and the retailer doesn’t appear to be slowing.
SANTA PAULA, CA - When it comes to citrus, the versatility of the fruit is about as limited as the imagination. Endless. With the California citrus season underway, Limoneira’s Senior Vice President, Alex Teague, joins me to discuss the status of the season and what’s in store for the citrus powerhouse.
“Crop sizing looks good and the quality is getting better. But, we also have the December through February weather conditions that always keep us on our toes and cautious as we look towards quality,” Alex tells me.
This year, Limoneira is harvesting Eureka lemons as well as Lisbons, Meyers, Pink Lemons and Seedless lemons from areas that range from Northern California and the Central Coast, to the California Desert, Arizona, and Chile.
“We also have partnerships and supply lemons from Mexico, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa,” he adds.
For the Golden State, the company will be harvesting in Northern California from November to March and the California Central Coast from March to August.
When I ask Alex what the challenges are this year and how are the company is addressing them, he tells me, “The drought is definitely an issue and lack of water has been affecting sizing. We have put comprehensive water management practices in place and continue to drive efficiencies with our water. The two largest, long-term challenges are labor and pests. Lack of labor is hurting significantly the ability to harvest on a timely basis. Pests such as ACP have more than doubled our costs of pest control.”
As for volume, crop sizing looks good for Limoneira.
To inspire consumers this year, Limoneira is promoting its Lemons for Life™ new marketing campaign. Consumers around the world have embraced all things lemon over the past several years, and Limoneira’s new campaign highlights a number of growing trends.
“Shoppers are increasingly looking for healthy alternatives in grocery aisles and Limoneia’s Lemons for Life™ spokesperson Megan Rooseveltof Healthy Grocery Girl® shares the many ways that Limoneira lemons can be used by consumers,” says John Chamberlain, Limoneira’s Director of Marketing.
Lemons for Life™ offers great tasting, healthy recipes, along with less obvious things that consumers can do with lemons. People have embraced lemons’ green cleaning abilities, and they’re very useful in beauty and lifestyle applications.
“People are also very interested in the Zero Waste movement,” he notes, “And Lemons for Life™ demonstrates how lemons can play a role.”
Communication efforts also highlight Limoneira’s 122 years of sustainability (farm worker housing, integrated pest management, water management, green waste recycling and solar) and link with the company’s foodservice and grocery retail sustainability practices. A comprehensive year-round calendar of Lemons for Life™ social marketing and merchandising options is available for Limoneira’s customers to help them build category sales and encourage guests to visit their locations, as well. Additionally, a global network of experts in health, recipes, beauty, green cleaning and lifestyle will be offering tips on how lemons can be incorporated into everyday lives.
So what does John expect as we move further into the holiday season?
This holiday season, Limoneira lemon retail bags are featuring drink recipes, for cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks, from Limoneira’s global mixologists along with Megan Roosevelt, Healthy Grocery Girl®, he notes.
“I love these drinks for the holidays,” says Megan. “They fun and festive and the lemons add zip for this cheerful season.”
These recipe inserts will be placed in Limoneira lemon net retail bags.
Stay tuned as the citrus season ramps up here in California!
NEWARK, DE - The results are in for Q3 2015 of PMA’s eat brighter!™ research, and surveys now show 78 percent of suppliers have increased sales of products branded with eat brighter! this quarter. Beyond the sales increase, the study also found increased activity over this period among grower-shippers and promotional boards as eat brighter! programs are approved and move into the marketplace.
“More products branded with eat brighter! translates into more opportunities for kids and families to experience eat brighter! in stores,” explains PMA President Cathy Burns. “This rise in products branded with eat brighter! also means more opportunities for suppliers to engage buyers. The greater participation we have across all links of the supply chain to permeate the marketplace with positive fruit and vegetables messages — both brand-building promotions and universal efforts like eat brighter! — the more we’ll succeed at reframing fruits and vegetables in the minds of consumers.”
More specifically, PMA’s survey shows that eat brighter! sales in Q3 continue to track at a 3 percent average increase in sales year-over-year, as reported by participating suppliers. And due to the movement’s success, PMA will be extending the program through 2018 and beyond the U.S. into Mexico.
Avocados From Mexico is one of the promotional boards that saw its eat brighter! materials approved for market in the third quarter, and demonstrates commodity boards’ important role in advancing the eat brighter! movement. In return, PMA says the boards’ participation in eat brighter! bolsters their marketing toolkit with additional avenues for their message.
“Avocados From Mexico is very excited to be partnering with eat brighter!. The ability to associate the brand with the Sesame Street characters provides us with a powerful platform to engage with moms and kids and deliver messaging around the nutritional benefits of avocados and also provide avocado education,” said Stephanie Bazan, Market Development Director for Avocados From Mexico. “We plan to leverage this valuable asset to reinforce our brand while providing avocado education at the point of sale when they are making their shopping decision. We will also be promoting nutrition and avocado education messaging through social, digital channels and public relations efforts that are engaging to both general market and Hispanic audiences.”
Other eat brighter!-licensed commodity boards include:
- California Avocado Commission
- Mushroom Council
- Pear Bureau Northwest
- Peruvian Avocado Commission
- Potatoes New Brunswick
- U.S. Potato Board
All seven of the participating commodity boards distributed eat brighter! promotional materials to 159 companies, the survey shows, and 37 grower-shippers distributed eat brighter! product to more than 160 retailers and distributors.
“Promotional boards like Avocados From Mexico and these others reach suppliers through their membership, retailers through their marketing efforts and consumers through their direct outreach,” continued Burns. “They embrace marketing as a discipline by engaging the supply chain and leveraging promotions, in this case eat brighter!."
Burns shared that she believes these industry groups represent an important link in the supply chain for both promotional reach, and to advance the goal of increased produce consumption.
ST. LOUIS, MI - Schnucks has announced that Mark Doiron of Maine-based wholesaler Sure Winner Foods will act as its new Chief Merchant, leading all of its procurement and merchandising operations.
Doiron replaces retail veteran Steve Harper, who retired from Schnucks earlier this year.
“We are pleased to welcome Mark to our team,” Chairman and CEO Todd Schnuck said in a press release. “He brings valuable and unique experiences to this leadership position, and we look forward to his contributions as we continue on our mission of nourishing the lives of our customers.”
Doiron brings more than 25 years of food and grocery industry experience, most recently in frozen foods distribution as President of Sure Winner Foods, as well as having worked as chief supply chain officer for Delhaize, overseeing its U.S. operations.
“I am excited to join Schnucks,” Doiron said. “After getting to know the company, the St. Louis area, and seeing Schnucks’ Midwest locations, it was clear that this would be a great fit for both myself and my family.”
Doiron will report directly to Todd Schnuck, serving on the company’s senior management team.
Schnuck Markets operates 99 supermarkets, employing about 14,500 people. It reported $2.6 billion in revenue in 2014 and continues to be one of St. Louis' largest privately held companies.
CASTROVILLE, CA – Ocean Mist Organic is strengthening its sales team with the addition of Joe Angelo.
As Sales Manager, Angelo will manage customers’ accounts throughout the country. He will be based in the company’s Castroville, California headquarters. Prior to joining Ocean Mist, Angelo was employed at Dole Vegetables and Dole Berry Company where he held district sales and commodity manager positions.
Joe Feldman, Ocean Mist’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, was thrilled by his background and was excited to bring him aboard.
“Joe Angelo is an impressive individual,” he said. “We are honored to have him join our company to further the success and growth of the Ocean Mist Organic program.”
Angelo is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Ocean Mist ships fifteen items from its organic product line nationwide, including artichokes, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, celery hearts, cilantro, fennel, kale, green leaf lettuce, iceberg lettuce, red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, parsley, and spinach.
All of Ocean Mist’s organic items are marketed under the Ocean Mist Organic label.
With Angelo’s addition, the company hopes to make an even bigger impact with this growing program.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The USDA has cited Allens Inc., also known as Veg Liquidation Inc., for failure to pay for nearly $10 million worth of produce under PACA.
According to a USDA press release, the Siloam Springs, AR-based company failed to pay $9,759,843 to 40 produce sellers for 2,312 lots of produce, a violation of PACA. As a result of these actions, Allens Inc. cannot operate in the produce industry until December 2, 2017, at which time it may apply for a PACA license, the USDA says.
The company’s principals, have challenged their responsibly connected status.
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), PACA Division, regulates fair trading practices of produce businesses operating subject to PACA, which includes buyers, sellers, commission merchants, dealers, and brokers within the fruit and vegetable industry. All oversight of actions related to PACA are conducted by AMS, an agency within USDA.
In the past three years, USDA resolved approximately 3,700 PACA claims involving more than $66 million. USDA experts also assisted more than 7,100 callers with issues valued at approximately $100 million. These are just two examples of how USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
LOS ALAMITOS, CA - When it comes to which foods will be trending in 2016, it looks like all signs are pointing to the produce department. According to Frieda’s Specialty Produce, consumers can look forward to a great vegetable revolution this year. Check out the company’s list below for four trending categories that retailers can push for 2016!
1) Clean Eating Movement
Say goodbye to processed foods and artificial ingredients this year. Shoppers are welcoming more fresh foods into their diets then ever before. Frieda’s suggests one way retailers can take advantage of this trend and keep shoppers coming back for more is to consistently stock produce departments with a variety of nutrient-dense vegetables. A few products could include Sunchokes® and Stokes Purple™ Sweet Potatoes, as well as flavor boosters like ginger, fresh chile peppers, and various onions.
2) Veg-centric
It’s finally the year to start putting produce at the center of the plate, it seems. With the Meatless Monday movement continuing to gain popularity and vegetable spiralizers flying off the shelf, Frieda’s has noticed that vegetables are gaining ground as the star players in restaurants, as well as at home. The company says that colored carrot and zucchini ribbons are nudging out actual pasta, and roasted root vegetables like celery root and colorful beet varieties are taking over more plate space at dinner time.
3) Turmeric
Did you know there was already a “Spice of the Year “named for 2016? The recent Baum+Whiteman report named this year’s spice turmeric. Used to flavor food and to give a health boost in fresh juices and more, this yellow root has been gaining popularity in recent years with the clean-eating set as an immunity booster.
4) Flavorful Heat
Home food preservation continues to be a trend that millennial shoppers are putting their support behind, including homemade hot and chile sauces. While Ghost and Trinidad Scorpion Peppers remain popular, foodies are, Frieda’s says, “burned out” on pure heat and are seeking a pepper that provides more flavor than punch. Peppers like Habanero, Serrano, and Poblano, along with Hatch Peppers from New Mexico are providing the tastes that are bringing consumers back for more.
To learn more about Frieda’s food trend picks for 2016, interested retailers, wholesalers, and foodservice distributors can check out www.friedas.com, and see other trending products, as well as gain access to Frieda’s extensive product information, high resolution images, and recipe database.
USA - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has released its registration requirements and program for drones in the U.S., including price and methods to attach names to the growing tech trend.
While the new program does encompass all drone practices, TechCrunch reports that it is more a system of accountability to “hobbyists” who otherwise might not have reason to heed the FAA’s restrictions on drone flying.
“Make no mistake: unmanned aircraft enthusiast are aviators, and with that title comes a great deal of responsibility,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said, TechCrunch reports. “Registration gives us an opportunity to work with these users to operate their unmanned aircraft safely. I’m excited to welcome these new aviators into the culture of safety and responsibility that defines American innovation.”
The FAA is making registration free for the first 30 days, after which there will be a $5 fee. Those who already own drones have until February 19, 2016 to register, which can be done either online or paper-based. Any who purchase their drones after December 21, 2015 have to register before their first flight.
This new system applies to all drones weighing at or under 55 pounds, including everything on board or attached. When flying, the pilot or whoever is using the pilot’s drone has to carry a copy of the registration. Penalties and fines for not complying were not addressed.
According to the FAA, sales for 2015 indicate that “1.6 million small unmanned aircraft intended to be used as model aircraft are expected to be sold this year,” including about 50 percent of that total during the fourth quarter of 2015.
Click here to see the full official FAA document regarding the new registration requirements, which go into effect on December 21st. Once enacted, you can register your drone at www.faa.gov/uas/registration.