BUFFALO, NY - Tops Friendly Markets has announced that it has named over 30-year company veteran John Persons as President and Chief Operating Officer, while former President Frank Curci steps down to continue as Chief Executive Officer and Board Chairman.
“I look forward as President and COO to working with all members of the Tops family—associates, vendors and suppliers—as we strive to provide Tops’ customers with what they want, when they want it, and saves them time and money,” Persons said. “I also thank Frank Curci and the Tops’ Board of Directors for the confidence they have placed in me as we continue to build a stronger Tops in the communities we serve.”
In his new role as President and COO, Persons will oversee all store operations, as well as all sales, marketing, and merchandising operations. Persons most recently served as Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Merchandising, but prior to that he was Senior Vice President of Retail Operations from 2007 to 2014, and Vice President of Retail Operations from 2000 to 2007.
Beyond that, Persons has been a Board Director of the company since 2013 and part of Curci’s management team that bought out Tops from its previous owner, Morgan Stanley Private Equity, in December 2013, according to the Meadville Tribune.
“John’s appointment is the first step in an organized and planned effort to ensure we have consistent and experienced leadership to guide the future growth and success of Tops Friendly Markets,” Curci explained. “Over the past eight years, John has played a significant role in building our organization and is committed to ensuring that Tops is providing the best value possible for our many customers.”
Curci has served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of the company since December 2007 when Morgan Stanley Private Equity purchased Tops Friendly Markets from Koninklijke Ahold, N.V. (Ahold). He became Chairman of the Board of Directors during the same 2013 management buyout.
According to the Meadville Tribune. Curci’s leadership has brought Tops more than double the number of stores to 165, expanded its reach into eastern and northern New York, Vermont and northern Pennsylvania, and invested more than $200 million in store renovations and updates.
NOGALES, AZ - “Our main goal is to provide excellence in customer service, and to be able to bring better solutions to the customer,” Agri-Packing’s Sales and New Product Development, Jorge G. Ruiz, tells me, as we talk about the company’s vision and ever-evolving program.
The Agri Packing group has two companies - Agri Packing Supply and Agri Packing Distributors. In AgriPacking Supply, the group sells all kinds of agricultural supplies for greenhouses, open fields and packing houses, while also specializing in packaging materials and specialized packaging materials.
“Our other company, Agri Packing Distributors, is a cold storage, logistics, and in & out service company, that has 4 cold storage buildings in Nogales,” Jorge says. “We handle a wide range of shippers and distributors like Trufresh, Crown Jewels, Oppenheimer, The Greenery, Nature’s Sweet, Delightful Quality Produce, Dayka Hackett and Frank’s Distributing, among others.”
When I ask Jorge why the company chose Nogales as the headquarters for its business, he tells me that the bulk of Agri-Packing’s clientele can be easily accessed from the region.
“From this point we can supply the Nogales and San Diego areas, as well as Sonora, Sinaloa, and Baja California among other states in Mexico. We are currently expanding our operations to McAllen, Texas in the cold storage and logistics operations and soon on the materials supply as well,” he tells me.
As the company continues to ramp up its supply and distribution channels, Agri-Packing is increasing its focus on customer service and inventory.
“We are always looking for new products and solutions for the agricultural business. We need to achieve excellency in everything we do, from our supply company to our cold storage facilities,” Jorge says.
Part of Agri-Packing’s service is to manage the customer inventories at the company’s facilities, that way the team can prevent any supply chain problems. In addition, Agri-Packing is also working with top companies in the industry to research and bring new products to market.
CASHMERE, WA — The countdown to PMA Fresh Summit is in motion; do you know what booths you need to hit yet?
Crunch Pak announced it will be showcasing its full line of both organic and conventional sliced apple products at the show, including products featuring licensed brands like:
- Disney
- Marvel
- Star Wars™
- NBA
- Major League Baseball
“We want to encourage kids of all ages to eat more fruits and vegetables,” Krista Jones, Director of Brand Marketing and Product Innovation, said, according to a press release. “We’ve had great success with beloved characters and athletes on our packages.”
The company stated that the relationships it maintains with its various licensors represents its efforts to feature popular characters and designs, like its award-winning DipperZ snack tray featuring Olaf from Disney’s Frozen, to engage children that need more healthy snack choices.
“Disney’s Frozen characters embody attributes like friendship, love of family, and loyalty,” Jones said. “Being able to pair these wonderful characters and their stories with fresh produce is a winning combination.”
The DipperZ snack tray, containing either a tart apple and a salted caramel DipperZ, a sweet apple with strawberry-flavored Greek yogurt, or carrot sticks with ranch, will be among the items on display at the show.
Crunch Pak is also working on several new products for next year, which it says will further its relationships with both the MLB and NBA.
To see Crunch Pak’s full line of both organic and conventional sliced apples, as well as items featuring its key licensing partners in Atlanta, Georgia, don’t forget to stop by booth #819, Oct. 24th-25th.
MEXICO - It’s been a busy few weeks over at Nogales-based Fresh Farms, and just speaking to Director of Sales Jerry Havel you can feel the excitement. With the cucumber, squash, zucchini, watermelon, and cantaloupe seasons all beginning this month or last, Jerry and the team certainly have their hands full.
“We just started the season for cucumbers out of Hermosillo, and we’re already starting our mini watermelons, squashes, zucchinis, and we’ll be starting our yellow squash any day now,” Jerry tells me. “This is our first season planting cantaloupes as well, and we’ll be looking forward to starting those around October 10th.”
A stormy September in the Sonora region of Mexico also caused a bit of a delay in the region, pushing back start dates for both watermelons and the new cantaloupe crop by about a week, Jerry shared.
“With this Sonora rain event bringing between 3 to 9 inches into the fields in Hermosillo some of our crops have been put back,” he says. “We’re anticipating some crop damage on squash, but overall we have an optimistic outlook for the season. We may see smaller volumes for some crops due to the rain, which also may also bring boosts in pricing.”
With demand looking high and prices getting this extra boost from nature, retailers can already start anticipating a successful season, Jerry adds.
“Retailers can always expect good volume out of Fresh Farms. We have a very consistent supply and outstanding quality on our core group of products,” Jerry explains. “Our business continues to grow because of the special attention we give to make our quality and supply excellent and consistent.”
So keep your eyes peeled for an exciting season from Fresh Farms, and stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for more on what’s to come.
HANSPORT, NS – Red Sun Farms’ Earthcycle™ top sealable pint, developed by Canada-based CKF Inc., has been named as one of the finalists competing for the PMA Impact Award for Packaging Excellence.
CFK’s Earthcycle™ top sealable pint is being recognized for its tamper resistant packaging and usage of environmentally responsible materials.
Brad Dennis, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for CKF, congratulated the Red Sun team for their efforts and the award nomination, explaining that it has been a tremendous opportunity working with them.
“We are in active development now with a range of top seal designs for the fresh produce industry, but it all started with our work with Red Sun,” said Dennis.
Unique to the Earthcycle™ top sealable pint is its moulded pulp base, which reduces plastic while using materials that are recyclable, compostable, and renewable. The Earthcycle™ base with a top seal film uses 90 percent less plastic than a traditional clamshell, requires 22 percent less fossil fuel to develop, and generates 53 percent less GHG emissions, according to a press release.
For an even greater understanding of CKF’s moulded pulp, rPET, and foam packaging, check out their booth #5167.
MONTVALE, NJ - In new court documents submitted Monday, it has been revealed that bankrupt grocer A&P has found 36 out of 108 buyers for properties it offered at last week’s auction. While two-thirds of the properties A&P is trying to sell have yet to receive any bids, another round of bidding is scheduled to be held this Thursday at the New York City offices of Weil Gotshal & Manges, the law firm representing A&P in the bankruptcy case.
While A&P operates many stores in desirable locations, many of the company’s locations are too small or have too few years left on their leases to make them attractive to new tenants, North Jersey real estate professionals told publication NorthJersey.com.
Some of the companies who entered winning bids for A&P locations according to the auction summary include:
- Key Food Stores
- Fransula Foods
- Best Yet Market
- Morton Williams
- Tawa Inc.
- Shopping Center Developer Brixmor
- Manischevitz Family LLC
- BX&M Foods
- Foodtown operator Estevez Markets
- K.A.M. Foods
- ShopRite operator Wakefern Food
- HMart
- Gristedes, identified as Food Emporium Acquisition
- King Kullen
- Stop & Shop
These bids, like all of the offers for A&P stores, must also be approved by the Bankruptcy Court and could still face challenges from A&P creditors or employee unions. As we’ve previously reported, A&P has already received court approval for the sale of 71 stores to the Acme chain and 24 stores to Stop & Shop, including 11 in North Jersey.
Stores not sold during the auction process could be closed and returned to their landlords, and most likely would be divided up into several smaller spaces.
JACKSONVILLE, FL - Southeastern Grocers LLC, parent company of chains like Winn-Dixie, Bi-Lo, and Harveys, is scaling back in several states.
The Jax Daily Record reports that the retailer is laying off up to 250 employees in seven southern states including:
- Florida
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- South Carolina
- North Carolina
The company attributed the cuts to restructuring its operating model and smoothing out inefficiencies, according to the report, following a comprehensive review from new Southeastern Grocers CEO Ian McLeod.
“The changes will enable Southeastern Grocers to reinvest in improved quality, service and value for customers, develop store improvement programs across the network and support the stores more effectively,” the company said in a statement. “The efficiencies will also enable Southeastern Grocers to better address the needs of its customers.”
According to the report, those that will be laid off will receive health benefits for the duration of their employment, as well as their employee discount for a year after they are dismissed.
AndNowUKnow will continue to follow the chain’s movements and other potential changes made under its new leadership, so stay tuned.
BARD VALLEY, CA - Bloggers and food influencers recently gathered for a two day experience in Bard Valley, California, the growing home of Natural Delights Medjool dates.
The company hosted its second bi-annual blogger summit this September, which included fourteen of the country’s top food bloggers and registered dietitians.
"This summit was such a great experience because it felt like there was a sense of family the entire time, between spending time with the growers, marketing team, and other influencers,” Alexis Joseph, Registered Dietitian and Blogger at Hummusapien, said, according to a press release.
During the experience, guests were treated to a tour that included the “Big 6,” the six original Medjool date palms that have stood since the 1940’s and have spawned all 250,000 other trees in production.
“Being able to see the Natural Delights story from start to finish really helped me understand just how personal the process of harvesting Medjool dates is,” Joseph added.
The group also got to see one of the world’s most technologically advanced medjool date packing facilities, Datepac, and learn about the state-of-the-art equipment.
“Our first blogger summit in 2013 taught us a lot about communicating with influencers, and how we can best tell our story in a way that is personal and resonates with each individual’s unique audience,” David M. Anderson, Director of Marketing at Natural Delights, stated in the release. “We applied those learnings to this year’s Medjool Date Summit by creating truly unique experiences between our influencers and our growers, the Medjool date gardens, Datepac packing facility, and the beautiful Yuma-Bard Valleys.”
According to the company, Natural Delights has put a significant amount of time towards taking a more personalized approach to experiential marketing by bringing influencers and the marketing team together to discuss:
- What is trending with influencers
- Their unique audience needs
- What opportunities may exist for brand growth within a new item development strategy.
Natural Delights’ growers have taken the opportunity presented by the increasing popularity of Medjool date consumption to share its story with such influencers to give them the tools they need to both engage with and educate consumers.
ATLANTA, GA - PMA Fresh Summit in Atlanta, Georgia is exactly 17 days away and at ANUK, we believe attendees can never start mapping out their game plan soon enough. So we reached out to the DMA Solutions, one of our go-to sources for all things show related, to find out exactly how attendees can prepare for this 3-day produce extravaganza.
Take a few tips from DMA's Account Manager, Marci Allen, and be ready for anything come October 23rd.
Arm yourself with a detailed schedule.
This will help you manage time between educational opportunities and sales opportunities – time management is critical to accomplishing all that you plan to do while at the show.
Make a plan for who you want to talk to and about what.
Set meetings in advance – leaving meetings to chance will result in fewer quality meetings than you had hoped for.
Don’t forget business cards.
You want to make it easy for your new contacts to follow up with you once they get back to their office.
Basic etiquette.
No working on the computer in your booth, chewing gum, talking on the phone, etc. Don’t give anyone an opportunity to find their experience in your booth displeasing.
Be organized.
Organize how you will collect contact information and keep relevant notes on meetings and introductions. Strong follow up is key to standing out in the crowd after a busy tradeshow.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for more on what you can expect at this year's PMA Fresh Summit Convention, and for all our coverage at the event.
DMA Solutions PMA Fresh Summit
OXNARD, CA - From a little-known green to the food that can pack a punch, kale’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent years as a leading trend in the market.
Now one of the first California kale producers, San Miguel Produce, is celebrating this growth with the rest of the greens industry. Tomorrow is National Kale Day, and as we previously reported, the company is raining kale down upon commuters across Ventura and Los Angeles Counties.
While Garrett Nishimori, San Miguel Produce’s Marketing Manager and Corporate Chef, tells me that this is generally the time that kale production slows a bit before kicking back up during the holidays, demand for the superfood remains strong, especially for organic.
“Generally the slowest time is right before the holidays, then picks up in time for the big season,” Garrett tells me, though in the last three or four years he said January has become one of the busiest times for kale.
Why then, you might ask, is tomorrow the day to celebrate this hearty veggie?
Garrett shared that the day was selected at random by the founders Dr. Drew Ramsey and The Skinny Chef Jennifer Iserloh, Co-Authors of the 50 Shades of Kale. The reminder, however, should be a strong one with what the company has planned.
According to the latest release, San Miguel has eight locations slated to receive its goal of 12,000 bunches of free kale, given away to passers by at these stops between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time:
- Ventura County
- Los Angeles County including Malibu, Downtown L.A, and Burbank.
- Ventura-Victoria Avenue, between Moon Street and Ralston Street
- Oxnard- Five Points
- Oxnard- Rose Avenue and Gonzales Road
- Camarillo- Santa Rosa Road and Verdugo Way
- Westlake- Westlake Boulevard and Thousand Oaks Boulevard
- Malibu- Pacific Coast Highway and Topanga Canyon Road
- Downtown Los Angeles- S Figueroa Street and W 7th Street
- Burbank- Warner Boulevard and S Avon Street
“We are excited to grow this grassroots effort, raising awareness around one of the vegetable heroes leading us to a healthier America- kale,” Brian Cook, San Miguel Produce Director of Sales and Marketing, said in the release. “We are very thankful for our wonderful retail partners, Food 4 Less, Fresh & Easy and Safeway, who are helping expand our reach and have been very supportive of our family farm’s products for many years.”
On the topic of grassroots, San Miguel has been doing a part in trying to bring the Los Angeles area into the locally-grown trend that appears to be on the rise. Most recently, the company’s COO, Jan Berk, took up a place on the panel for the Ventura County Ag Summit, which included a Taste of Local expo.
“There continues to be a growing trend for locally grown produce, which we are happy to see is growing a bit more in our area,” Garrett tells me. “There has always been strong competition with product imported from Mexico in the Los Angeles market. Consumers want to know who is growing their food, how they are growing their food and where their food is coming from. They can see and trust this when their produce is grown near their own communities.”
The company was also proud to announce that the same goes for helping to make a healthier education, with not only retailers participating in the National Kale Day festivities, but local schools as well.
For a complete up-to-date list of retailers and schools participating, see the lists below.
Retail Locations
- Food 4 Less (7 a.m. until supplies last)
- 1688 N Perris Boulevard, Perris, CA 92571
- 2750 E 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033
- 4250 Van Buren Boulevard, Riverside, CA 92503
- 5420 W Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, CA 90027
- 1600 E Willow Street, Signal Hill, CA 90755
- Fresh & Easy (7 a.m. until supplies last)
- Safeway (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
- 4211 Eagle Rock Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90065
- 10930 Rosecrans Avenue, Norwalk, CA 90650
- 1700 Rosecrans Avenue, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
- 1207 S Euclid Avenue, Fullerton, CA 92833
- 3231 East University Avenue, San Diego, CA 92104
- 15 Marina Boulevard, San Francisco, CA 94123
- 1335 Webster Street, San Francisco, CA 94115
- 298 King Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
- 2020 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94114
- 5290 Diamond Heights Boulevard, San Francisco, CA 94131
School Locations
- Ventura Unified School District
- Conejo Unified School District
- Hueneme School District
- Oxnard School District
- Montalvo Elementary School- After school (noon for jog-a-thon)
- Lang Ranch Elementary School- Before school (walk to school day)
- Richard Bard Elementary School- After school (noon dismissal
- Harrington Elementary School- After school (2:35 p.m. dismissal)
As for how to help spread health in the nation, give ‘em kale!
To help spread the word, and to follow the events of the day, use #NationalKaleDay and #KaleDay2015 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, and don’t forget to tag @cutncleangreens and @sanmiguelproduce.