OXNARD, CA – Freska Produce is continuing to expand its avocado program with the acquisition of Oceanside, California-based Harvest Time Produce.
The acquisition will substantially increase Freska’s overall avocado activity and provide customers with more value added choices with its new packing plant in Oceanside. The company will continue packing avocados in its flagship Freska label.
Together with its already established Mexican avocado program, this entry into the California avocado business will also help truly enable Freska to ship avocados year round.
“We see Freska’s acquisition of Harvest Time not only as the perfect fit to our already year round mango program and Mexican avocado program, but also as a way to fill a void with California avocados,” Gary Clevenger, Freska’s Managing Member and Partner, tells me. “We see California avocados as necessary to give our customers choices in our year round programs.”
Formed in 1985, Harvest Time Produce was one of the original 13 handlers of California Hass avocados and one of the original avocado packinghouses in the state, according to a press release. As popularity continued to flourish for this item, Harvest Time made a number of investments for its program to meet the growing demand. Some of these ventures included a mobile sizing machine, which would be used to field pack Hass avocados, and a permanent sizing machine.
In more recent years, Harvest Time installed a larger packing line and bagging equipment to continue offering premium California avocados to customers.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Already a worldwide distributor and an industry leader in mangos, Freska’s newly expanded avocado program is expected to give retailers even more ways to diversify their produce aisles.
Look forward to seeing more Freska avocados with this expanded year round program!
DEERFIELD BEACH, FL - In the latest in a string of expansions in Southern Florida, Publix has announced the purchase of a grocery-anchored shopping center for $45 million.
The Deerfield Beach, FL-based Hillsboro Square shopping center is 138,572-square-feet, and includes a 126,042-square-foot main shopping center with space leased to Office Depot and Five Guys, a 1,674-square-foot Starbucks building, a 9,792-square-foot SunTrust Bank branch/office, and a 1,064-square-foot retail building behind Publix. This deal equates to around $325 per square foot, according to the South Florida Business Journal.
Publix has been taking many steps to expand in Florida over the past few months, particularly when it comes to buying shopping centers where it is the anchor tenant. Recent purchases include a $53 million 13-acre shopping center in Wellington, and a similarly sized shopping strip in Hollywood for $39 million, according to real estate news source The Real Deal. The South Florida Business Journal also names a $19 million acquisition of Sea Plum Town Center, a $12.5 million purchase of Pine Lake Plaza, and the $24 million deal for Crosstown Plaza.
As we’ve previously reported, Publix had earmarked $1.3 billion for new store development in 2015.
“Publix has deep pockets, so they can really afford to do this,” explained Stan Rutstein, a Commercial Specialist with Re/Max Alliance Group in Bradenton in March. “It protects their competitive position. It dramatically lowers their occupancy costs over time. It's an opportunity to lease out the smaller shop space and have some additional income from that.”
For more on Publix and its continued growth and investments, check back with AndNowUKnow.
BALTIMORE, MD - Baltimore is looking to eliminate its food deserts by offering grocers a tempting tax break: 80 percent off what they would pay for their cash registers, freezers and other equipment.
Grocers name a number of barriers operating in the city, Equities News reports, including high property tax rates and the need for large tracts of land with thin profit margins.
"I anticipate this being helpful in bridging that gap and bringing investors to some of our struggling communities by making it a more feasible, more profitable experience for them," Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said, according to the report.
The tax breaks were passed unanimously by the city late last week, and are set to run for the next ten years.
Based on the size and value of the store, the breaks Baltimore will now provide can be worth more than $100,000 in annual savings. It is available only to stores selling perishables including:
- Fresh produce
- Meat
- Dairy
- Seafood
- Packaged food
The store has to be in an area at least a quarter of a mile from a food desert, which Baltimore’s standards state have high levels of poverty and about a third of residents without a vehicle.
William H. Cole IV, President and CEO of the Baltimore Development Corp., said grocery stores draw in a volume of consumers that can serve as "stable anchors," to a community. "A quality grocery store can transform a neighborhood faster than anything," Cole told Equities.
In addition to the new personal property tax credit, Cole added that grocery stores are eligible for enterprise zone tax credits.
Some existing stores in the qualifying areas that are undergoing significant renovations can also qualify.
The plan is not just for traditional supermarkets either. Equities reports that it also includes a 90 percent tax credit for urban farms and "virtual supermarkets" that allow public housing residents, including the elderly and disabled, to order groceries online using food stamps. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said the moves to ease personal property taxes is worth spurring investment to get produce and healthy foods to the areas it’s needed most.
As we previously reported, Renaissance Food Group and Tessemae’s Natural All Natural recently held a large Crop Circles event at a local Baltimore school, handing out more than 40,000 pounds of fresh produce to the community.
AndNowUKnow will continue to follow the efforts of the produce industry on both the buy-side and supply-side as they seek to eliminate food deserts.
FOWLER, CA – Joe Berberian, Salesman at Bee Sweet Citrus, recently joined AndNowUKnow for an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the company’s facility in Fowler, CA, its expanded organic citrus line, and much more.
The family-owned company has grown its organic citrus line to include more than just lemons. Bee Sweet Citrus has now added navel oranges, grapefruit, and mandarins to further diversify its portfolio and meet the ever-evolving needs of its retail partners.
“Each year, we’re going to continue to grow [our organic] program,” Berberian tells us.
The "one-stop-shop" citrus grower also offers several conventional varieties from December through February, as well as specialty citrus items starting in November through February.
Earlier this year, the company donated $50,000 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) for the second consecutive year, raising a total of $100,000. Bee Sweet’s Sweetheart Mandarins and Satsuma bags proudly display the BCRF’s logo to promote breast cancer awareness.
In addition to working with the community, Bee Sweet has launched a go-green initiative that includes the installation of 4.5 acres of solar on the facility’s rooftop, as well as a recycling system for water.
For the latest on Bee Sweet Citrus and to see the company’s facility in motion, check out our brief two minute video with Joe Berberian at the top of the page.
IRVING, TX – With fresh produce always keeping the industry on its toes, many of us learn quickly that having a plan—or three—in place for when to market your product is a crucial part of turning a profit.
To help make this process a little easier, fresh produce marketing agency DMA Solutions continues to launch its comprehensive Produce Marketer’s Calendar, with 2016 now available to be downloaded for free.
“We’ve committed as an agency to provide helpful tools and resources for the industry, and the Produce Marketer’s Calendar has continued to be DMA Solutions’ most downloaded tool every year, solidifying our efforts,” Dan’l Mackey Almy, CEO of DMA Solutions, Inc., said in a press release. “Our hope is that both resources will allow for marketers to spend less time researching and more time strategizing and executing based on the work that we’ve already done to support their efforts.”
The calendar provides a month-by-month breakdown of important events and activities, including promotion opportunities, and can be downloaded for free from DMA Solutions’ blog, The Core.
Along with saving fresh produce markets time when planning their 2016 calendar, the company said that it hopes to share some of the company’s best year-long planning practices and helpful resources that its team uses.
DMA also recently released its 2016 Social Media Calendar in November, which combined with the Produce Marketer’s Calendar gives fresh produce marketers:
- Important industry events
- Holidays
- Tips
- Trends
The two calendars combined can provide many resources for both those seeking to expand their efforts, as well as those already utilizing year-long planning tools.
RANCHO CORDOVA, CA – Crop Circles is at it again, having brought its pop-up style Farmers Market to conquer the food deserts of Baltimore for another visit on Saturday, November 21st.
“Heading into our third Crop Circles event, we have seen the increasing need for fresh fruit and vegetables in ‘food desert’ communities,” Nelia Alamo, Renaissance Food Group’s Director of Marketing, said in a press release. For this particular event, RFG’s Garden Highway™ brand teamed up with Tessemae’s All Natural to deliver an estimated 40,000 pounds of commodity fruit and vegetables and 3,000 LBS of fresh-cut fruit and vegetables.
“Our goal is to help residents in these communities understand the importance of living healthy lifestyles. Crop Circles is dedicated to making a positive impact and bringing a healthy food and lifestyle awareness to the food desert communities we serve with this great event,” Alamo added.
Crop Circles, a national event designed to bring fresh fruit and vegetables and an awareness of living a healthy life to food deserts across America, has previously held successful events in both Compton, CA and Englewood, Chicago, IL, with this Baltimore visit being one of its largest yet. About 4,000 attendees came to collect donated fruit and vegetables in anticipation of the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the release.
Those who attended stood in line at Baltimore’s New Hope Academy where the whole thing took place, waiting to receive Garden Highway™ cut fruit and vegetables while Tessemae’s distributed bottles of clean salad dressing and marinade, were treated to more than just produce.
As we previously reported, the event also included an appearance by NFL star Ed Reed, a live DJ, a competition-style cook-off, and a variety of booths featuring wellness-based companies.
Helping hands included a team of volunteers from the United Fresh Produce Association and regional fresh-cut processor F&S Produce Company, Inc.,who helped secure 40,000 pounds of donated produce, donated transportation for all the products, and provided volunteer supporters.
OXNARD, CA - The mango, one of the world’s favorite fruits, is also a fruit of opportunity this holiday season according to Freska’s Managing Member and Partner Gary Clevenger.
“There will be good supplies of smaller fruit 10’s-14’s to promote through the month of December,” Gary shared with me. “This will be a good opportunity to promote some multiples that have been missing on the shelves the past few months.”
Now growing in Ecuador, mangos just saw their peak in that region, meaning we can expect a wave of new arrivals next week.
“Ecuador as a country will slowly go down and end mid January,” Gary tells me, adding that it looks like the season is going to be missing El Niño and shipping a lot more volume up front before any rains have a chance to affect fruit quality. “Mango quality has been very good this year out of Ecuador, Tommy Atkins have been looking and arriving very nice this year.”
With promotable volumes coming through the season, and harvest looking to wrap up before the El Niño rains really get started, mangos look to be poised to meet hungry consumers with a want for that tropical bite.
Freska ships mangos year around, so just because the Ecuador season wraps up next month doesn’t mean the product will.
“Peru has begun shipping and will peak mid-to-late January,” Gary said. “Ecuador will continue to ship through middle of January.”
And, for those who haven’t heard, Freska has also added avocados to its offerings just in time for Super Bowl party season, so stay tuned for more availability and offerings to fill your holiday and football displays.
WILMINGTON, DE and MIDLAND, MI – It looks like we’re getting one last mega merger before we hit the New Year.
DuPont and Dow Chemical, two of America’s oldest agriculture chemical companies, have officially reached a deal to combine in a “merger of equals” with a market capitalization of approximately $130 billion. The new company, DowDuPont, would become the second-largest chemical company in terms of revenue following BASF Germany with a combined $92 billion in sales.
DowDuPont will subsequently split into three independent, publicly traded businesses, consisting of a $19 billion (yearly sales) agriculture chemicals company, a $51 billion material science company, and a $13 billion specialty products company, according to a press release.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Dow and DuPont would control 17% of the global market share for crop protection. For comparison, Syngenta controls 21%, with Bayer at 20%, BASF at 13%, and Monsanto at 9%.
Jeffrey Stafford, an analyst with Morningstar, said that breaking into three separate companies would “give Dow and DuPont the ability to choose the best products in their research pipeline and shutter the rest,” the New York Times reports.
It’s expected that up to 10 percent of DuPont’s global work force, or more than 5,000 employees, would be affected by job cuts as a result of this merger. In a separate statement, DuPont announced a 2016 global cost savings and restructuring plan designed to reduce $700 million in costs compared with 2015. Approximately $650 million of those costs are related to employee separation costs.
Andrew N. Liveris, Dow’s Chairman and CEO, has been named Executive Chairman of the combined company, while DuPont’s CEO Edward D. Breen will retain his position.
“This transaction is a game-changer for our industry and reflects the culmination of a vision we have had for more than a decade to bring together these two powerful innovation and material science leaders,” said Liveris. “This merger of equals significantly enhances the growth profile for both companies, while driving value for all of our shareholders and our customers.”
Breen echoed Liveris’ statement, saying, “This is an extraordinary opportunity to deliver long-term, sustainable shareholder value through the combination of two highly complementary global leaders and the creation of three strong, focused, industry-leading businesses.”
Dow also announced that it intends to restructure its ownership with Dow Corning. Dow will become the 100% owner of Dow Corning, currently a 50:50 joint venture between Dow and Corning.
With a merger of this scale, it goes without saying that antitrust regulators will heavily scrutinize the deal. Perhaps, however, splitting the combined company into three separate businesses may ease some antitrust concerns.
Shares in DuPont fell this afternoon, decreasing 5.10% to $70.75. Dow also saw a decrease, dropping 2.70% to $53.43.
Following the closing of the transaction, DowDuPont will be dual headquartered in Midland, Michigan and Wilmington, Delaware. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2016.
WESTBOROUGH, MA – BJ’s Wholesale Club has named a new Chief Executive this morning to succeed Laura J. Sen early next year.
Christopher J. Baldwin, BJ’s President and COO, has been appointed as President and CEO this morning, effective February 1, 2016. Baldwin, who was just hired this past August, has over 30 years of retail and consumer products experience. In just the few short months he was with BJ’s, Baldwin was able to demonstrate the leadership qualities and vision necessary to take up the mantle as the company’s top executive.
Sen will assume the role of Non-Executive Chairman, working with other Board Members to oversee the long-term strategic direction of the company.
In a company announcement, Sen said she was grateful to have spent over 25 years with BJ’s and was proud of what the team has been able to accomplish under her guidance.
“I believe BJ’s is operationally strong and well positioned for continued success,” she said. “Together we have laid out a strategy for the Company that will serve us for many years to come, and I believe now is the right time for Chris to assume his place as leader of BJ’s.”
Prior to joining BJ’s earlier this year, Baldwin held several leadership roles, including President of Snacks at Kraft Foods (Nabisco), President of North America at The Hershey Company, and Procter and Gamble.
Baldwin said that he looks forward to leading the company to even higher levels of achievement, acknowledging that though this is a challenging time for retail, it is one full of opportunity.
“Our guide over the next several years will be a vision that is steadfastly focused on offering a distinctive shopping experience and deep value proposition to BJ’s millions of loyal members,” he said.
BJ’s Wholesale currently operates 211 clubs and 126 gas stations in 15 states, providing premium produce in many supermarket sizes.
REEDLEY, CA - December is a sweet month for citrus and with Christmas right around the corner, Moonlight Companies is promoting its program from Reedley, California. Currently, Moonlight is growing and harvesting navel oranges, Cara Cara navel oranges, Cuties® mandarins and lemons.
“We expect citrus to be promoted heavily at retail during the December holiday season. January will also be another great month for citrus promotions at retail with major events confirmed and in place, so retailers should take advantage of ad planning now,” Jason Chavez, Director of Business Development, tells me as the company continues to ramp up its program.
Historically, Moonlight’s navel orange program runs from November through May with peaks in January and February. Cara Cara navel oranges will ship from December through February with a peak in January, and Cuties® Mandarins will continue through May.
“Volume is up compared to the same period, year-over-year, with improved fruit quality and flavor,” Jason adds. “The increased volume is a result of our expanding acreage (citrus) and our commitment to continual reinvestment in our farming operation. In addition to the bump in volume, we also have new merchandising and packaging offerings for a select group of retail partners this year.”
Additionally, Moonlight’s lemon program is growing, with product available October through March. Moonlight will finish the season with spring and summer navel oranges available from April through May.
Business has been positive for Moonlight, with year-over-year performance trending favorably.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we follow the progression of California’s citrus program.